CANADA! CANADA! CANADA! CANA- oh, yes, ahem, baseball…
The Jays have brought Ryan Yarbrough back on a minor league deal (via Hazel Mae). Yarbrough was acquired last deadline as the “return” for salary dumping Kevin Kiermaier, but he actually had a bit of a bounce back in Toronto, posting a 2.01 ERA with passable peripheral stats in 37 innings across 12 appearances. He still throws 87, but he has six pitches and can spot them, and he does enough to stay off hitters barrels. He’ll be handy insurance in case they need Yariel Rodriguez back in the rotation and so end up short a long reliever.
On the minor league deal front, old friend Rowdy Tellez has landed with the Mariners. That’s a good spot for him, as he should be able to out-hit Mitch Haniger for DH reps. I hope he catches on, Rowdy’s always been an extremely easy guy to root for.
There was one bit of significant MLB news: ESPN and MLB have opted out of their Sunday Night Baseball deal, effective after this season. The agreement had had three years remaining, but both sides had a March 1st opt out, and both have decided to trigger it. That comes after ESPN had tried to negotiate down the roughly half a billion dollars it was paying per season for the game and the exclusive Sunday night time slot. MLB is apparently mad that ESPN doesn’t talk about baseball enough outside the broadcast of the game itself. I’d add that they spend too much time talking about not-baseball during the game as well, but what are you supposed to do when the Dallas Cowboys exist, I guess.
The Jays are kind of uniquely unaffected by the news, since ESPN, an American network, had no interest in scheduling a Canadian team with few subscribers among their fanbase. It points to the dynamic that will shape the next decade or two of baseball’s economy, though: viewership is steady or even up, but fewer and fewer people subscribe to cable, which has been the driver of baseball’s (and all sports’) revenue explosion the past ~30 years. Streaming is a harder market, largely because its a-la-carte model doesn’t allow you to passively collect fees from millions of people subscribed to a cable package whether they ever watch a specific channel or not.
Toronto’s probably in a stronger spot than most American teams, because SportsNet has resources beyond a typical regional cable sports network and its own streaming service that also has NHL and NBA rights, making it a viable year round product. That should put them on a firmer economic footing than teams hoping Root Sports Inland Empire or whoever can stay afloat to keep the cheques coming.
For the sport as a whole, though, it remains to be seen whether a streaming model can be built that replicates the billions of cable dollars that are going away over the next little while. That looming issue also explains why the ownership side is already hinting that the post-2026 collective bargaining process will be unusually brutal.
The first game of spring was played yesterday. It wasn’t much of a contest, with the Cubs beating the Dodgers 12-4, and as is typical in spring the players you’ve heard of were out early, but hey, I’ll take what I can get. The game also contained the first look at what the challenge system looks like (if you aren’t familiar with how it’s looked in AAA):
Here was the first ABS challenge of Spring Training:
Cody Poteet challenged a called ball by tapping his head. It went to a review. Umpire Tony Randazzo announced it was overturned to a strike.
Simple. Easy. Efficient.
— Sam Dykstra (@samdykstramilb.bsky.social) 2025-02-20T20:37:22.951Z
Have to agree with Sam, that was pretty straightforward. I’d also note that it was faster than it looks in the clip, the broadcaster just burn a few seconds fumbling around.
There was a scary moment later in the game when Dodgers pitcher Bobby Miller took a 105mph line drive square to the side of the head. Somewhat amazingly, he walked off under his own power and stayed in the dugout to watch the game. I imagine putting on a ball cap will be an issue for a few days, but if that’s the only damage it’s pretty lucky.
And finally, the Yankees are changing their facial hair policy, finally joining the current century and allowing “well groomed beards.” The Springfield Nuclear Plant Zephyrs, however, will stand firm for tradition:
Happy Friday everyone.