Evan Drellich

Evan Drellich

@evandrellich.bsky.social

Senior writer, The Athletic, and author of "Winning Fixes Everything." Everything's in order in a black hole.

3.7K followers6 following84 posts

Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

The lockout is 40 days away. When it comes to a salary cap, everyone at the World Series — commissioner, players, owner, union leader — is saying, well, exactly what you'd expect. Trevor Megill: "No cap, no floor, it’s not happening." www.nytimes.com/athletic/771...

nytimes.comBrewers, Rays and a salary-cap fight: The World Series becomes a labor battleground (Gift Article)Plus: The latest on MLB and Mark Walter; MLB players in the Olympics; Last-minute lockout talks?
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

Competitive balance sits at the heart of the fight that will soon shut down MLB. So @theathletic.com took a deep dive into what the state of parity in MLB really is. @enosarris.bsky.social ran the numbers, and two takeaways stood out. Unlocked: www.nytimes.com/athletic/771...

nytimes.comDoes MLB have a competitive balance problem? We ran the numbers to find out (Gift Article)What does competitive balance actually mean? With a small-market World Series about to begin, MLB's salary cap fight hinges on that answer.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

News: MLB sent a 34-page memo to owners and high-ranking officials across the league detailing what to expect — and how to act — during the lockout. MLB’s official website will again be scrubbed of player images. And no holiday cards for players after Dec. 2. www.nytimes.com/athletic/767...

x.comEvan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) on XNews: MLB sent a 34-page memo to owners and high-ranking officials across the league detailing what to expect — and how to act — during the lockout. MLB’s official website and club websites will agai...

Evan Drellich reposted

Andrew Marchand
@andrewmarchand.bsky.social

⚾️ NEWS (w/@EvanDrellich): Why because of the media rights deals 60 games will be a leverage point during the expected lockout. Will the owners still be paid their $2B+ in rights even if there are no games? Answers www.nytimes.com/athletic/762...

nytimes.comIn MLB lockout, 60 missed games could be the real deadline (Gift Article)If a lockout occurs, 60 games — roughly the end of May, by the expected MLB schedule — will bring perhaps the most crucial leverage point.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

Major League Baseball says it wants to share revenues with players “50-50.”The union says that’s “misleading propaganda” and “deception.” The really big question at the heart of this: 50-50 … of what? How MLB wants to define revenue: www.nytimes.com/athletic/747...

nytimes.comIn battle over MLB salary cap, players and owners spar over the meaning of ‘50/50’ (Gift Article)The revenue split is a key point of contention in cap leagues like the NBA and NHL. MLB is just now grappling with the particulars.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

"Our game is in a great place. ... I have watched over the last few years the owners, the commissioner’s office, try to convince fans, the consumers of their product, that their product is broken. "I think it’s perverse." — Bruce Meyer of the MLBPA in opening remarks this morning to press

Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

Details of what the MLBPA proposed today, including: the trade deadline would fall between July 21-27 (currently has to be between July 28-Aug. 3) — and, wrinkle, outrighted players could be traded after the deadline www.nytimes.com/athletic/741...

nytimes.comMLB players union proposes earlier trade deadline and more limits on player demotionsIn Wednesday's bargaining session, the league and union talked about issues beyond the salary cap, with the union seeking changes.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

Forget eliminating Shohei Ohtani-esque, $700 million contracts in free agency. If the owners have their way in baseball’s labor negotiations, Alex Rodriguez’s $252-million signing from a quarter century ago wouldn’t be allowed in the future either. www.nytimes.com/athletic/739...

nytimes.comMLB looks to limit free-agent contract length, dollars in latest labor proposal (Gift Article)The league would also raise the minimum salary, end deferred-money contracts, and shorten some players' time to free agency.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

How experts in labor negotiations look at the early stages of MLB bargaining… and with good timing! Because the sides are back at the negotiating table today, with MLB set to make its first proposals on some key economic issues. www.nytimes.com/athletic/739...

nytimes.comExperts weigh in on early stage of MLB labor talks: ‘Don’t over-read it’ (Gift Article)With bargaining resuming Thursday, will the league continue to hold back its most eye-catching proposals?
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

News: the Home Run Derby is ditching the clock. MLB is using a "swings" system in this year's derby. 1st round: 20 swings 2nd and 3rd: 15 hacks. On your last pitch each round, swing til you don't go deep. (Deleted original post which called it an "outs" system.) www.nytimes.com/athletic/737...

nytimes.comMLB Home Run Derby to ditch clock, revive swing-based system: SourcesThe annual event will be broadcast on Netflix for the first time next month, with the Derby taking place at Citizens Bank Park.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

Rob Manfred said in October 2024 that MLB had a "darn good" record on competitive balance. Back in 2018, he said the correlation between winning and spending was "extraordinarily weak." Now, he says MLB's luxury-tax system has failed: www.nytimes.com/athletic/733...

nytimes.comCommissioner Rob Manfred, who once touted MLB’s parity, says luxury-tax system has failedManfred questioned MLB's parity Wednesday, while acknowledging fears that a salary cap fight could rival the ugliness of the 1994-95 strike.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

One of the finer points of the MLBPA's proposal last week: the union asked MLB to publicly release some financial information, including how much each team gets in local revenue sharing. On "opening the books" www.nytimes.com/athletic/732...

nytimes.comThe what-if mailbag: Paul Skenes as a Yankee? MLB owners actually opening their books?Most of these are hypotheticals — but we made some calls, and owners opening their books isn't a total fantasy due to ongoing labor talks.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

As MLB labor negotiations continue today and tomorrow — and a cap proposal arrives — one issue might decide the sport's fate. MLB franchise values trail the NBA and NFL. Why that's become so important: “To get change, I think you do what you have to do” www.nytimes.com/athletic/731...

nytimes.comMLB owners want what NBA, NFL owners have: soaring franchise values, and a salary capA lot of new money has come into baseball, including from private equity firms. For owners hoping to sell, a cap could boost team value.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

News: It has begun. Major League Baseball and the Players Association are holding their first collective bargaining meeting in New York today, making opening presentations ahead of what's expected to be a lengthy fight over a salary cap. www.nytimes.com/athletic/727...

nytimes.comMLB, union begin negotiations over new labor dealNegotiations begin today between MLB and its players' union, the first step in a lengthy process expected to drag into early 2027.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

News: As Opening Day arrives, MLB first- and third-base coaches fear for their safety from line drives because of MLB's rule change to keep them in their designated boxes. Aaron Boone: “They’re in harm’s way, bottom line.” With @ken-rosenthal.bsky.social and more www.nytimes.com/athletic/714...

nytimes.comMLB base coaches say new rule to curb pitch tipping has put them in harm’s wayMLB is standing by its enforcement though one coach told The Athletic, "we’ve all been talking about how you’re constantly in danger."
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

Coming off a stellar World Baseball Classic, baseball has never been more popular across the globe. Pierre Ducrey, sports director for the International Olympic Committee, on anticipation for 2028, and whether baseball could become permanent again: www.nytimes.com/athletic/713...

nytimes.comBaseball is riding an international boom, but will it ever stick in the Olympics?We'll see Olympic baseball in L.A. But with MLB's schedule and future Olympic Games taking place elsewhere, will that continue beyond 2028?
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

Half the remaining teams in the World Baseball Classic are playing for a spot in the 2028 Olympics. How MLB, the MLBPA and the WBSC determined the Olympic qualifying set-up, and why the union pushed for two teams to come out of the WBC rather than one: www.nytimes.com/athletic/711...

nytimes.comThey came to win the WBC. Olympic qualification was a surprising part of the dealFor teams from the Americas, the World Baseball Classic is a double-jeopardy tournament. Lose too soon and you're out of the Olympics, too.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

What would MLB look like with a salary cap? Everything you need to know about the wide-ranging, game-changing effects, from free agency to, yes, competitive balance MLB wants an NHL-style hard cap. $240m ceiling, $160m floor could be target www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

nytimes.comWhat would MLB look like with a salary cap? Explaining the wide-ranging, game-changing effectsFrom free agency to guaranteed contracts to franchise values, a salary cap would completely remake the MLB landscape.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

“A 100 percent certainty” that the owners will push for a salary cap in wake of Kyle Tucker deal with the Dodgers, ownership source says. “These guys are going to go for a cap no matter what it takes." www.nytimes.com/athletic/698...

nytimes.comMLB owners enraged by Kyle Tucker-Dodgers deal, will push for salary cap ‘no matter what’It's believed that only the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets might remain in opposition to a salary cap proposal, a source said.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

FanDuel Sports Network is offering three-year deals to MLB teams to return. The offers depend, however, on FanDuel SN finding a buyer. The latest on the fate of a major sports broadcasting company: www.nytimes.com/athletic/697...

nytimes.comFanDuel Sports Network makes new offers to MLB teams, hinging on the company being soldIf it isn't sold, Main Street has told partner teams it plans to wind down FanDuel Sports Network operations after the NBA and NHL seasons.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

“The league and owners say they want to avoid missing games but at the same time they appear to be dead-set on trying to force players into a system that, the last time they proposed it, led to the most missed games ever and a cancelled World Series.” www.nytimes.com/athletic/696...

nytimes.comMLB trying to ‘force’ players into salary cap, union says, as Manfred walks a tricky lineMLB commissioner Rob Manfred's recent comments on a salary cap system prompted a strong response from baseball's union.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

“But if their true interest is to blow up the very system on which our streak of uninterrupted seasons has been built — with the game reaching record heights and poised to go even higher, no less — that would be a self-defeating miscalculation of massive proportions” www.nytimes.com/athletic/695...

nytimes.comManfred stumps for MLB free-agent signing deadline, a ‘miscalculation’ to unionFans, media and industry officials often raise the deadline discussion when free agency goes slowly, as it has this winter.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

Rob Manfred wants a free agency signing deadline in baseball: "a great marketing opportunity for the game" Brent Rooker: "pretty close to the most anti-player idea you could possibly have" Tony Clark and agents Joel Wolfe, Scott Boras weigh in: www.nytimes.com/athletic/695...

nytimes.comManfred stumps for MLB free-agent signing deadline, a ‘miscalculation’ to unionFans, media and industry officials often raise the deadline discussion when free agency goes slowly, as it has this winter.
Evan Drellich
@evandrellich.bsky.social

Last winter Rob Manfred had luxury-tax money — up to $15m per team — to give clubs that took haircuts on their TV deals: a “media disruption distribution.” But it was a 1-year deal that MLB did not bring back this winter. The problems, though? They’re back. www.nytimes.com/athletic/694...

nytimes.comNine MLB teams’ TV money in jeopardy as FanDuel networks continue to struggleThe troubled broadcaster is trying to renegotiate its payments to nine MLB teams, and recently missed a payment to the St. Louis Cardinals.