April 24th, 2020: Red Sox, Hub Plan, KBO, Minor League Contraction, Judge, Mailbag

This Sunday will be the one month anniversary of what was supposed to be Opening Day. The Yankees have already lost 26 games to the pandemic -- they were scheduled to open a three-game home series with the Indians tonight -- and it'll likely be much more than that when it's all said and done. Hope you're all staying safe. Here are today's thoughts.

1. Red Sox punished. I wish I was surprised. Earlier this week commissioner Rob Manfred disciplined the Red Sox for their sign-stealing scandal and the punishment is incredibly weak. Here's the report (PDF link) and here's a recap of their punishment:

• Forfeit 2020 second round pick.
• Replay operator J.T. Watkins suspended for 2020 and banned from that job in 2021.

That's it. Not even a token $5M slap on the wrist fine. In his report, Manfred made sure to clarify Alex Cora was suspended for 2020 for "his conduct as the bench coach of the Houston Astros in 2017," not for anything he did as Red Sox manager. We're supposed to believe Cora was the ringleader of a massive sign-stealing scandal with the 2017 Astros -- Manfred's own report identified him as a mastermind -- who then went to the Red Sox and was not involved in their extremely similar* sign-stealing scandal the very next season. It was just one giant coincidence and he was an innocent bystander? Come on now. Manfred also said he is "mindful that because the 2020 First-Year Player Draft may be as few as five rounds, (forfeiting the pick) may have a more significant impact on the Red Sox than in a normal year," which I guess is true, but it's still weak. The Yankees were punished more for signing Gerrit Cole (forfeited second and fifth round picks) than the Red Sox were punished for cheating after they told MLB they would stop cheating the last time they got caught cheating (forfeited second round pick). Remember when the Red Sox got busted for the Apple Watch scandal in 2017? When Manfred announced their fine, he said he received "absolute assurances from the Red Sox that there will be no future violations of this type." They did it the next season! The very next season. This is the timeline:

• The Red Sox got caught cheating in 2017.
• The Red Sox told Manfred they would not cheat again in the future.
• The Red Sox cheated again in 2018.

The Red Sox are a repeat offender -- serial cheaters across multiple seasons and brazen enough to do it again even after they told the commissioner they would stop -- and that's the punishment? Seriously? Manfred put it all on Watkins, a relatively low level staffer, and said "unlike the Astros’ 2017 conduct, in which players communicated to the batter in real time the precise type of pitch about to be thrown, Watkins’s conduct, by its very nature, was far more limited in scope and impact." Manfred tried to downplay the scandal by saying the stolen signs were "only relevant when the Red Sox had a runner on second base (which was 19.7% of plate appearances league-wide in 2018)," or, you know, pretty much the 19.7% most important plate appearances. They stole signs, but it was only in high-leverage situations, so it's not a big deal. That's what we're being told. What the hell man? Between the Red Sox and the Astros, this much has been made clear: cheating is absolutely worth it. The punishment is a slap on the wrist and the potential reward is enormous. I'm not dumb enough to believe the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox won the World Series only because they stole signs, those were two very talented rosters, but the sign-stealing might've put them over the top. The Yankees lost two one-run games in the 2017 ALCS and two one-run games 2018 ALDS. The difference in each series could've been a stolen sign. What garbage. Steal signs. Who cares. If you get caught, you'll lose a draft pick and have to find a new manager, and that's about it. By the commissioner's own admission, two of the last three World Series winners cheated across multiple seasons, all while MLB gets into bed with casinos and legalized gambling. Nothing to see here folks. Baseball's doing great. All the rogue video replay guy's fault.

* The Red Sox were found to have used the video room to decode signs during games so the runner at second base could look into the catcher and relay the sign to the hitter. Manfred's report says the Astros did exactly that before graduating to banging garbage cans and whatnot.

2. Updated draft pool. The Red Sox have to forfeit their 2020 second round pick (No. 52 overall) as part of the sign-stealing slap on the wrist and that impacts the Yankees to a tiny degree. Boston giving up the pick moves New York's third and fourth round selections up a spot (they forfeited their second and fifth rounders to sign Gerrit Cole). Here is New York's new bonus pool situation:

• First round: 28th overall ($2,493,400 slot value)
• Third round: 99th overall ($587,400 slot value) (previously 100th overall and $581,600)
• Fourth round: 129th overall ($438,700 slot value) (previously 130th overall and $434,400)
• Total bonus pool: $3,519,500 (previously $3,509,400)
• Bonus pool plus 5% overage: $3,695,475 (previously $3,684,870)

The Yankees net an extra $10,100 in bonus pool money ($10,605 with the 5% overage) because the Red Sox have to forfeit their second round pick. It's a negligible amount, really. The Yankees will put that money in some kid(s)'s pocket and that's cool, but I can't imagine the extra $10,605 will be enough to change a prospect's mind if he's on the fence about signing. There are rumblings teams are increasingly optimistic MLB will go with a 10-round draft this year, though that's predicated on the regular season starting in June, and who knows whether that'll happen. If it does and the Yankees get five extra picks and a little extra bonus pool money, great. For now, I'm going to assume a five-round draft until I'm told otherwise. The Yankees will have three picks and, because the Red Sox are dirty cheaters, scouting director Damon Oppenheimer and his staff will have an extra $10,605 in bonus pool space to play with this year. Yippee.

3. The Hub Plan. First there was the Arizona Plan, then there was the Realignment Plan, and now there's the Hub Plan. My pal R.J. Anderson reports MLB is considering a regular season plan that would drop teams into one of three hubs: Dallas, Phoenix, and Tampa. They'd use roofed Major League parks as much as possible (Globe Life Field and nearby Minute Maid Park in Texas, Chase Field in Arizona, Tropicana Field and nearby Marlins Park in Florida) and also sprinkle in games in nearby minor league and Spring Training stadiums. Apparently there is "guarded optimism" the plan could come to fruition. Joel Sherman says the Arizona Plan is "dimming as a possibility" and adds the Hub Plan (or some version of it) could simply be used as a starting point for the season, with teams returning to their home cities later in the year as conditions allow. The benefits of the Hub Plan are playing more games in enclosed parks to deal with the weather, and also broadcast feasibility. With no fans allowed to attend, MLB has to make the games easily accessible to viewers. The Yankees playing all their games in Arizona would make for some funky start times. If they play a game at 7pm ET on the East Coast, they'll bake under the Arizona afternoon sun. Play a night game in Arizona when it cools down, and it'll be a 10pm ET game in New York. The Hub Plan puts the Yankees on East Coast time and presumably every team in their normal time zone. Keeping everyone safe is the obvious challenge here -- supposedly there's real concern there won't be enough lodging available in the Tampa area -- especially since Florida and Texas seem to be in a race to see which state can start the next wave sooner given their rushes to reopen everything. Safety concerns will exist with every scenario and MLB won't be able to move forward with anything until there is more testing available. Of the three proposals we know about, the Hub Plan seems most doable simply because there are more locations involved, and the more available locations, the more likely it is they'll be able to actually play somewhere. MLB and the MLBPA are still a long way from finalizing anything and there are a lot of logistical hurdles to clear, but at least it seems things are moving in a more promising direction. "(It) is very difficult to predict with any accuracy the timeline for resumption of our season ... I fully anticipate baseball will return this season," commissioner Rob Manfred said in an email to staffers throughout the game earlier this week, according to Jeff Passan.

4. KBO returns. Earlier this week the Korea Baseball Organization announced it will begin its season on May 5th. They began playing exhibition games immediately. The KBO will skip its All-Star break and play straight through a 144-game season with a neutral site Korean Series (their championship series) at the Gocheok Sky Dome, the circuit's only domed stadium. There will be several proactive measures in place when the season begins:

• No fans in attendance, at least initially. If conditions improve, fans could be allowed to attend games later in the season.
• Players will have their temperature taken when they arrive at the ballpark and again at some point prior to the game.
• Players are "encouraged" to wear masks everywhere but on the field and in the dugout. Non-playing personnel (umps, bat boys, etc.) have to wear masks at all times.
• High-fives, spitting, licking fingers, and other gross baseball things have been banned. For real.

The KBO is able to launch because South Korea has been extremely aggressive containing COVID-19. They quickly mass produced tests, enacted lock down measures, and traced patients' movements to isolate anyone they've been in contact with. The United States has done basically none of that. The numbers are grim: 887,370 infected in the United States (population: 331 million) as of this writing compared to 10,708 infected in South Korea (population: 52 million). More than 80 times the infections despite only a little more than six times the population, and it is a near certainty there are more infections here than we know because we still don't have widespread testing. Given how South Korea responded, it's not surprising the KBO is ready to shut down immediately should someone get infected. Daniel Kim and Joel Sherman say the league will shut down a minimum of three weeks -- they'll chop 18 games off each team's schedule -- should anyone test positive, and by anyone they mean player, coach, executive, clubhouse attendant, whatever. If someone working within the KBO bubble tests positive, the league will shut down. Taiwan has been similarly aggressive combating the pandemic and that's why the Chinese Professional Baseball League was able to begin its season two weeks ago. They're taking similar proactive measures (no fans, non-players masked, etc.). This all serves as a template for MLB. Look at what the KBO (and the CPBL) are doing to safely get their seasons up and running, and do exactly that. It won't be easy because MLB is so much bigger -- there are only 10 teams in the KBO and five in the CPBL -- but here you go. A template has been provided. Tailor it to your needs and get the season up and running while keeping everyone safe. Unfortunately, the question is not really MLB's readiness to act. It's how long it'll be until conditions around the country (or even a pocket of the country) are safe for baseball. There's just no way of knowing when that will happen. "I affirm what I have been saying: it’s going to be the virus that determines what the timetable is. Because if we get the virus under really good control and certain regions of the country can get gradually from the gateway to the phase one to the phase two to the phase three, it is conceivable that you may be able to have some baseball with people practicing physical separation," Dr. Anthony Fauci told Jack Curry (video link).

5. Minor league contraction plan. In sad but not entirely unexpected news, Minor League Baseball is now on board with MLB's plan to eliminate 40 minor league teams, according to J.J. Cooper. The pandemic has devastated many minor league clubs, which are essentially small businesses with a fairly limited window to make money each year. Full season teams have 70-something home games each year and that's it. Maybe a few postseason games if they're lucky, and perhaps some offseason events if the weather allows. The contraction plan calls for cutting out short season leagues and going from 160 minor league franchises to 120. That would leave each team with four full season affiliates (Triple-A, Double-A, High-A, Low-A) and a rookie ball affiliate at their Spring Training complex (similar to the Gulf Coast League). The original plan called for some minor league teams targeted for contraction to cease operations entirely, and others to be transitioned into unaffiliated independent league or collegiate summer league teams. I'm not sure whether that is still the case and chances are it is something MLB and MiLB still have to work out. Here are some details from Cooper: 

Now, MiLB and MLB are expected to discuss the parameters of a system where the two sides could work together to ensure that most of the cities that currently have affiliated baseball will have ties to MLB clubs, even if those cities’ teams will not be fielding draftees and signees of the MLB club. It wouldn’t be MLB’s initial proposal, but a system that has been adjusted to give those cities a better chance of having a viable long-term baseball operation.

There are many details for such a system that would need to be worked out, as far as what kind of financial and other support such teams would get from MLB and affiliated MiLB teams. But the general idea would be to ensure such cities continue to have reasonably high quality baseball in an economic system that would have staying power.

It is unlikely there will be a minor league season this year and that will be the death knell for many franchises. They can't survive a lost season, financially. Going along with MLB's plan is the only way many of these minor league teams will survive. They need the financial help, and while they'll lose their Major League affiliation, they'll still exist. You can either lose your affiliation and stay operational, or lose your affiliation and close your doors. Cooper says it's way too early to know which teams will be eliminated -- the Staten Island Yankees were on the original hit list -- because we don't know which teams will take the hardest financial hit this year. As part of the contraction plan, there will also be widespread realignment. Clubs will be grouped into minor leagues that make more sense geographically, and MLB wants to ensure Triple-A affiliates are near their parent club. I'm totally cool with geographical realignment, it is a worthwhile endeavor, but it's a massive undertaking. Move teams around and, inevitably, some will have to change classifications. That's a big deal. A Triple-A franchise is much more valuable than a Low-A franchise, for example. Also, MLB and MiLB apparently agree minor league facilities must be upgraded (as necessary) to meet certain standards. That's also worthwhile. Give players better facilities and better care, and they'll have a better chance to become successful players. Everyone wins in that scenario. I have three main concerns with the contraction plan. One, MLB is doing this to cut costs, full stop. They're going to cut 40 teams this year, then they'll probably try another round of cuts in a few years, and another round of cuts after that. They haven't earned the benefit of the doubt. Expect whatever they do to be anti-player. They're happy to take small bites to achieve their goal, similar to how they turned the luxury tax into what amounts to a salary cap over the span of two decades. Two, a lot of small towns are going to lose their only access to professional baseball and that sucks. Independent teams and collegiate summer league teams are better than nothing but they're not the same draw as affiliated clubs. MLB risks losing fans, both short-term and long-term, and that's a terrible thing. They should be trying to help baseball grow. This is the opposite of that. And three, fewer minor league teams means fewer opportunities for players. It will result in a shorter draft because there won't be as many players will be needed. MLB is pushing players away from pro baseball, and with the college baseball scholarship situation being what it is (11.7 scholarships per team and some schools don't even fund that many), many amateurs are going to play another sport because that's the only way they can afford college. For all this "let the kids play" stuff the league promotes, MLB isn't doing a very good job of giving kids a reason or a way to play their sport.

6. 2020 draft prospect: Tanner Burns. We don't know when the 2020 amateur draft will take place just yet -- MLB can hold it anytime between June 10th and July 20th -- but there will be a draft this year, and I'm gonna break down potential Yankees targets the next few weeks. We've already covered Nick Bitsko, Pete Crow-Armstrong, C.J. Van Eyk, Max Meyer, and Austin Wells. Burns rejected the Yankees as their 37th round pick in 2017 and instead followed through on his commitment to Auburn. A shoulder problem limited him to short relief during the Tigers' College World Series run last year, but he showed he was healthy this year, pitching to a 2.42 ERA with 32 strikeouts and seven walks in 22.1 innings prior to the shutdown. Baseball America (subs. req'd) ranks Burns, the son of former up-and-down big leaguer Mike Burns, as the 26th best prospect in the draft class. MLB.com ranks him 28th. The Yankees hold the 28th overall pick. Here is a snippet of MLB's scouting report (here's video):

When he's 100 percent, Burns can work at 92-97 mph with his fastball and locate it to both sides of the plate. His breaking ball can be a plus pitch at times, combining slider velocity in the low 80s with curveball depth, but it gets slurvy at others. He hasn't had much need for his changeup, though it has some sink and shows some signs of becoming an average third pitch.

Burns lacks size and while he's strong and athletic, he comes with durability concerns because of his shoulder issues as a sophomore and a history of seeing his stuff dip later in the season. Though there's no projection remaining in his 6-foot frame, his proponents see some similarities to another former Southeastern Conference star, Sonny Gray. If he can stay healthy and maintain his stuff throughout the season as a junior, he could go in the middle of the first round like Gray did in 2011.

Burns is awfully similar to Clarke Schmidt. They're both 6-foot-ish starters with durability concerns, the makings of an out-pitch breaking ball, and a history of strong performance in college baseball's toughest conference. Schmidt also checked all the boxes analytically -- that includes having the arm action the Yankees target with their prospects because it's conducive to adding velocity and a certain kind of breaking ball spin -- and I don't know whether that's true with Burns. The fact they drafted him out of high school could be an indication the answer is yes? I dunno. As noted earlier, the Yankees will have only three picks and a $3.7M bonus pool this draft, and I think the most likely scenario is they play it straight and take the best slot value player with each pick rather than manipulate the bonus pool and shoot for the moon with one top talent. Burns fits neatly at the end of the first round and the fastball/breaking ball combination gives him a pretty good foundation going forward. That's workable, even if he winds up in the bullpen long-term.

7. Remembering a random Yankee: Brandon Claussen. Up next in our series remembering random Yankees of yesteryear is someone who once rated as one of the top prospects in the game. We've already covered Juan Acevedo, Erick Almonte, Oscar Azocar, Colter Bean, Kevin Elster, Greg Golson, Nick Green, Aaron Guiel, Brandon Knight, Blake Parker, and Mark Reynolds. Claussen was a product of the old draft-and-follow system. Back in the day teams controlled a draft pick's rights for one year or until they attended class at a four-year college. They would draft talented players in the late rounds with no intention of immediately signing them, track their progress in junior college the following spring, then sign them if they developed well. Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada were both draft-and-follows. So too was Claussen. The Yankees selected Claussen in the 34th round of the 1998 draft then signed him a year later, after he broke out as a prospect at Howard College in Texas. He zoomed up the minor league ladder -- Claussen pitched to a 2.31 ERA with a minor league leading 220 strikeouts in 187 innings at High-A and Double-A in 2001 -- and Baseball America (subs. req'd) ranked him as the 37th best prospect in baseball prior to the 2002 season. (Miguel Cabrera was No. 38.) Alas, those 187 innings took a toll and Claussen underwent Tommy John surgery on June 25th, 2002. These days having Tommy John surgery in late-June would sideline a pitcher through the following season. That was not the case back then. Claussen was pitching in Spring Training games the very next year. "I am a Christian and God took care of everything," he told George King. Claussen had made 11 minor league starts that summer, including six with Triple-A Columbus, before the Yankees summoned him to the big leagues to make a spot start during a doubleheader. He made his Major League debut on June 28th, 2003. One year and three days after having his elbow rebuilt. Crazy. Claussen was very good in his debut, holding the Mets to two runs (one earned) in 6.1 innings at Shea Stadium. He struck out five and walked one, and also went 1-for-4 with an RBI infield single at the plate. He drove in the ninth run in what eventually became a 9-8 win (Sterling Hitchcock and Dan Miceli tried their best to waste Claussen's strong start, forcing Mariano Rivera to get a two-inning save in a game the Yankees once led 9-0). As planned, Claussen was sent back to Triple-A the next day -- he was called up only to make the doubleheader spot start -- and that was it, he never again pitched for the Yankees. One month later he and minor league lefty Charlie Manning were sent to the Reds for Aaron Boone. Claussen is one of 11 pitchers whose Yankees career consists of exactly one start and zero other games, and his one start is probably the best of those 11. It's either him (6.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) or Mark Freeman (7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) back in 1959. Claussen allowed two runs in 6.1 innings in his one start. The other nine non-Freeman pitchers combined to allow 54 runs in 28.2 innings. The one-start-and-done list generally isn't a good one to be on, but Claussen is an exception. He spent parts of the next three seasons with Cincinnati, sandwiching a solid 2005 (4.21 ERA in 166.2 innings) between dreadful 2004 (6.14 ERA in 66 innings) and 2006 (6.19 ERA in 76 innings) seasons. His stuff didn't come all the way back after Tommy John surgery -- "Before the surgery, I tried to blow people away. Now I am different pitcher," he told King -- and eventually his shoulder gave out as well. Claussen had rotator cuff surgery in Aug. 2006 and, following a brief minor league rehab stint with the Nationals in 2007, he had to call it a career. From top prospect in 2002 to big leaguer from 2003-06 to out of the game at age 29 in 2008. This sport can be cruel. I'm not sure what Claussen is up to these days, but he was active in the union's alumni association as recently as 2018.

8. Rapid fire thoughts. An Aaron Judge non-update: he is still in healing mode, Aaron Boone told Meredith Marakovits yesterday (video link). "He’s in Tampa. We’re using this time -- he’s using this time -- to continue to heal. I don’t really have much more for you other than, obviously. It’s been very productive having the chance to have this time to allow that rib to heal. That is happening. But as for where he’s at exactly, we don’t have anything for you on that yet," Boone said. So yeah, a non-update. Exactly one month ago we heard Judge's fractured rib is "healing the way it should be," and that was it until yesterday's update. With no daily media sessions to pester Boone, getting injury updates is not easy these days ... According to Brendan Kuty, the Yankees have joined the rest of the league (well, except the Rangers) in telling their employees they will be paid through May 31st. Wonderful news, even though it is pretty much the bare minimum at this point. Some clubs, including the Tigers and small market Padres, have told their employees they will be paid through the end of the season. I have to believe that'll pressure every other team to do the same. Might be a while before the Yankees and other teams announce it, but I'm hopeful it'll happen ... And finally, I was a bit surprised Alex Rodriguez didn't make a more serious effort to buy his hometown Marlins and I'm not surprised he's now trying to buy the Mets, reportedly. He grew up a Mets fan -- he's said he should've signed with the Mets rather than the Rangers -- and they're a marquee franchise in a huge city. And he might be able to get them at a discount now. The franchise's value is taking a hit during the pandemic and the botched Steve Cohen deal can't help matters. Would MLB and the other 29 owners sign off on A-Rod? Eh, who knows. They were cool with Cohen and he was fined $2 billion for his role in the largest insider trading scandal in history. All I know A-Rod and Derek Jeter going head-to-head as NL East owners each year would be hilarious. I hope it happens.

Mailbag Question of the Week

Paul asks: Let's say things get weird and the eventual season something involved split squad games. What lineups would you send out to each game? 

I don't think MLB would ever green light regular season split squad games because they would wreak havoc on competitive balance, but it is a fun idea. I'm all for baseball craziness. Embrace the chaos. Embrace life.

The opposing starters and maybe even the ballpark would play a role in deciding the split squad game lineups. You'd want to send the lefty hitters to Yankee Stadium and the righty hitters to Fenway Park, right? For our purposes, let's assume there are no platoon issues and we're in neutral parks. Using my 50-man roster as a template, these are my two lineups:

Hicks, LeMahieu, Judge, and Voit are the club's four best on-base guys, so split 'em up and put 'em atop the two lineups. Stanton and Torres are the obvious No. 3 hitter candidates. I put Stanton in Lineup A because I still love the idea of Judge and Giancarlo hitting back-to-back. Because Hicks and Voit are in Lineup B, Gardner and Ford more or less have to be in Lineup A to play those positions. Split up the two third basemen however you want.

Both lineups are legitimately great 1-6. Tauchman's the best player among the 7-8-9 hitters and I put him in Lineup B because I think they need the extra depth. Each lineup will require one Triple-A caliber guy and there's no sense in putting that player at DH. Put Frazier and Stanton at DH and make use of Herrera's and Granite's gloves. I don't expect either to hit much, but at least they'll be able to play defense.

I plugged each lineup with each player's 2020 ZiPS projection into the Baseball Musings Lineup Analysis Tool and got 4.93 runs per game for Lineup A and 4.94 runs per game for Lineup B, so go me. Managed to balance them perfectly. The American League average was 4.88 runs per game last season. We split the Yankees in two and they still have two (slightly) better than average offenses. Wild.

I don't think loading up one lineup with regulars and trying to steal the other game with, say, Gerrit Cole and a bunch of defense-first second stringers, is a viable strategy. Both games count and the Yankees have enough depth to send out a respectable squad in both games. Maybe you load one team up in an important late-season intradivision matchup. Otherwise I think you try to give each team an equal chance to win.  

There are other factors to consider, of course. Lineup A would certainly be the better defensive team because they have LeMahieu, Judge, and Gardner (and Wade). In that case, I think you pair Cole and James Paxton, two strikeout/weak fly ball pitchers, with Lineup B and let Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ, more pitch-to-contact guys, pitch with Lineup A. 

Another thing: how do you split up the bullpen? Figure Aroldis Chapman and Zack Britton are the two closers. That leaves Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle, and Adam Ottavino as your setup men. I think Chapman, Kahnle, and Ottavino go together because they are three true one-inning guys. Green can give you two innings, so use him to set up Britton, who can give you four outs on occasion. Sound good?

Bonus Mailbag Question of the Week

Brian asks: This might be too mundane to run in the mailbag, but, the Yankees have had a long pipeline of the "next in line internal backup catcher." From Cervelli-JR Murphy-Romine-Higgy. Is there no such person currently in the minor league system? I guess if Higgy sticks they would be a few years away from being needed, but just a random thought.

There's no obvious future backup catcher in the farm system right now. Kellin Deglan, Chris Iannetta, Erik Kratz, and Josh Thole are all journeymen types who aren't future anythings. Wynston Sawyer came over as a minor league free agent from the Twins. I imagine new catching coach Tanner Swanson, who spent the last few years with Minnesota, had a hand in that, though that doesn't necessarily mean the Yankees have high hopes for Sawyer.

Anthony Seigler is years away from the big leagues and he has to get healthy before we start to think about him as a future anything. Same with Josh Breaux. Donny Sands hasn't hit, like at all. Kyle Higashioka always showed some power at least. Maybe Jason Lopez? He kinda sorta took a step forward with the bat two years ago, and his glove is fine. Lopez might be the best hope for a backup catcher in the near future.

Keep in mind it wasn't until four years ago that Higashioka developed into a backup catcher candidate. He'd been a minor league backup (behind Gary Sanchez and John Ryan Murphy, mostly) who had pop and was always a good defender, then, in 2016, he hit .276/.337/.511 (134 wRC+) with 21 homers at Double-A and Triple-A. Suddenly he was on the map. Long-term backup catcher is not a thing to sweat and one could pop up any given year.

(Send your questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com.)