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MLB News: Update for 7/1/20


2020-07-01 09:00:00 EDT

Here’s your daily roundup of all the current MLB news that’s affecting the planned 2020 season. Today we’re visiting some player notes and interesting stories from around the league. Let’s get right to it with the latest MLB updates. Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place. 

Tigers Sign Spencer Torkelson – Detroit put out some happy news on Tuesday afternoon, announcing the signing of No. 1 overall 2020 draft pick Spencer Torkelson. He’ll be joining the rest of the team for summer training, and over the next few weeks (assuming all goes well), Tigers fans will get a nice look at the franchise’s young talent. 

In addition to Torkelson, Detroit also has a couple of interesting upcoming pitchers in Matt Manning and Casey Mize, as well as outfielder Riley Greene. The Tigers (and the rest of the MLB) will have to make some adjustments to their regular training schedule however, being that facilities are limited to each team’s home ballpark as opposed to the Florida/Arizona locations of old. There’s only one actual field to use in the home stadiums, so teams will have to get creative. 

Minor League Season Canceled – Everyone has been expecting this for a while, but we got the official announcement Tuesday afternoon. The Minor League Baseball season has officially been canceled. It’s the first time in the 120-year run of MiLB that they’ve shut down an entire season. 

So what does that mean for MLB team prospects? Well, most of the top-ranked guys will find homes in their teams’ 60-player pool and will participate in summer training activities. It’ll be the younger players’ first opportunities to meet coaches face-to-face and mingle with the rest of the team. It’ll also be a chance for the Minor-League guys to see MLB action before they normally would. 

Beyond that, it seems like fall and winter leagues are still in limbo; we’ll find out more about those as time goes by. The minors are set for a big change anyway; the MLB is expected to realign things soon, and more than 40 teams could lose affiliate status during that process. 

Bobby Bonilla Day – July 1 marks Bobby Bonilla Day, the unofficial annual MLB holiday that sees the Mets send their ex-player a check worth just south of $1.2 million. And he hasn’t been on the team in 20 years. It’s one of the craziest deals in league history. 

The Mets bought out the $5.9 million left on Bonilla’s contract way back in 2000, and instead of a lump sum the team agreed to make annual payments of almost $1.2 million each year for the next 35 years. It’s a deal stemming from the Bernie Madoff days, and Bonilla made out great. He’ll be getting a huge check every July 1 until 2035. 

Though Bonilla’s deal isn’t unprecedented (Bret Saberhagen, Max Scherzer, Manny Ramirez and other MLB players have worked out deferred-money deals over the years), it’s certainly the most infamous. Considering Bonilla has been out of the league since 2001 and is making more money in 2020 than guys like Mitch Moreland, Kenta Maeda and Hunter Pence, we’d agree with that assessment. 

Andrew's Free Pick: NULL

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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