G-Fafif

The bulk of the HOF will relocate to the RF FanFest area, where there've been shops and lounges in the past. Theoretically that will draw in-game foot traffic.

Great food on tap this year. Of course it's always great when it's complimentary. Mama's Empanadas is a comer. At least one of the Queens Crew dancers was performing bare-midriff. Given the wind chill, she earns today's MVP. HOF plaques will be at the top of the rotunda, so keep an eye peeled as you depart the escalator (even if you're engaged in conversation as JCL and I were). I'm hoping the placement will lure more passersby, a la Walls of Fame in some other parks.

RHP Kyle Crick, OF Ben Gamel, RHP Yacksel Ríos, INF Yolmer Sánchez, RHP Cole Sulser and OF Trayce Thompson have been reassigned to minor league camp.

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J.D. Davis has just decided to sign with the A's.

Pretty damn good for a guy who tended to be treated as depth. A few further thoughts https://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2024/03/15/tidings-at-the-ides/here.

About to be a Padre.

Jon Heyman reports Cole out at least one to two months.

Bill Plummer, backup catcher behind Johnny Bench on two world championship Reds teams, 76.

J.D. Davis fell through a loophole, per the Athletic's Pulse newsletter. J.D. Davis gets shafted For decades, the arbitration process has been a source of consternation in Major League Baseball. The system is unnecessarily complex, but boils down to this: Each offseason, players who have between 2.5 and 6 years of service time in the major leagues negotiate one-year salaries with their teams. If the sides cannot agree, they each propose what they deem a fair market salary. An arbitration panel then chooses which number is more reasonable. And thus we get to J.D. Davis, the Giants third baseman, who was surprisingly released yesterday — with a brutal loophole attached: Davis won his arbitration case against the Giants for a $6.9 million salary this upcoming season. The Giants filed at $6.55 million. Due to a clause in the new collective bargaining agreement, the Giants — who signed star third baseman Matt Chapman two weeks ago — were able to cut Davis and withhold most of his $6.9 million salary. They owe him a termination fee of about $1.1 million. How? In what was thought of as a CBA win at the time, one-year arbitration salaries became fully guaranteed. But the clause did not specifically guarantee salaries arrived at through hearings. The Giants became the first team to exploit the perfectly legal loophole, no matter how bad the vibes. So now, three weeks before the season, Davis finds himself unemployed, and the Giants barely owe him anything. Sucks, right? I asked Windup writer Levi Weaver for some smarter analysis than my own: “It does suck, because the new CBA was supposed to prevent this, guaranteeing those one-year arbitration-years contracts. But alas, we now have to wonder: Will we see teams negotiate in bad faith and go to a hearing on purpose, just to give themselves the option to cut bait at a fraction of the player's salary?”

Looked good!

J.D. Davis indeed released.

Diaz is slated to pitch tonight (Monday).

=DocTee post_id=148644 time=1710122876 user_id=85]Whither Houston?

Canada's own Joey Votto gets an invite to camp from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Josh Donaldson has signed with the Baseball Retirements in 2024 thread.

Two Pirates from the Cobra era have passed of late: pitcher Larry Demery, 70, and Ed Ott, killer of Felix Millan's North American career, 72.

U.L. Washington, Royals shortstop recognizable by his toothpick, 70. Hit .364 in the heroic slaying of the MFYs in the 1980 ALCS.

Reassigned to minor league camp: OF Drew Gilbert RHP Eric Orze C Kevin Parada RHP Cam Robinson RHP Christian Scott RHP Mike Vasil INF Jett Williams LHP Danny Young Optioned to Triple A: INF Luisangel Acuña LHP Kolton Ingram