Five storylines for the new season

BY KATIE WOO

NOT-SO ‘FREE’ AGENTS

Free-agent superstars Manny Machado and Bryce Harper had most of the baseball world on edge over the offseason, as both waited until after pitchers and catchers had reported to spring training to sign with a team. Both also made a principle very clear: They weren’t settling for just anything.

Machado signed with the Padres under a 10-year, $300 million contract, while Harper signed with Philadelphia for 13 years and $330 million. However, the freeagent market has been at a stall for the majority of the offseason, as teams waited for the Machado/ Harper dominoes to fall.

The result? Many of baseball’s top free agents – like Craig Kimbrel, Dallas Keuchel, Adam Jones, Denard Span and Gio Gonzalez — remained unsigned as Opening Day drew closer. A strange beginning to 2019 indeed.

Rookies Under Lock

Top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has already dazzled the Blue Jays’ fan base without playing a single inning of major league ball. His talent and potential are undeniable, as is the hype. However, the Blue Jays have all but guaranteed that MLB’s No. 1 overall prospect will begin the season in Triple-A.

The reasoning is the same as the Cubs’ reasoning in 2015 with Kris Bryant. By holding a player down in Triple-A, teams gain one more season before that player is allowed arbitration. Until then, the original contract agreement between the player and team cannot be changed, and the player has no say in his pay.

While organizations are prohibited from tampering with service time, intent is nearly impossible to prove. They aren’t fooling many, though. Bryant told The Athletic the process “is awful” and recent reports hint that the MLBPA has been keeping tabs on whether Toronto is manipulating Guerrero Jr.’s service time.

RED SOX STILL THE FRONT-RUNNER?

The Boston Red Sox cruised to their second World Series title in six years, soundly defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. Boston mowed down teams virtually all season, posting 119 wins in 2018, the third-highest total in major league history.

When it came to new contracts, Manny Machado, top, and Bryce Harper weren’t settling for just anything.

As difficult as it may be to win back-to-back titles, Boston retains nearly every player on the 40man roster from 2018 and is the easy favorite to take the crown in 2019. The Dodgers, Astros, Brewers and Yankees all pose a threat to Boston’s chances, and there’s a possibility the up-and-coming Braves and Phillies can make a run as well.

‘THE OPENER’ PERSEVERES

The Rays made headlines in 2018 by debuting a pitching strategy known as “The Opener.” Essentially, a reliever would start the first inning of the game before giving way to the true “start- er” in an effort to keep them in games longer and keep them from being exposed to hitters as they face the first three batters of the game.

Teams like the Phillies and Rangers caught on through the season, and the A’s used an opener in a winner-take-all wild-card game. It’s an unorthodox strategy, but teams saw enough success in the opener last year for it to spark popularity throughout the league.

The Rays and Rangers will continue to deploy openers, with the A’s, Blue Jays, Pirates and Giants also in discussion about the possibility. Not everyone is a fan, however. Starting pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Gerrit Cole have both expressed disdain for the tactic.

THE END OF ‘THE WIN’?

Is the win stat losing its relevance? Mets’ ace Jacob deGrom was named the 2018 National League Cy Young Award winner, beating out Washington’s Max Scherzer and Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola.

DeGrom had a monster year: His 1.70 ERA led the NL and he recorded a major league best 24 straight quality starts (at least six innings allowing three runs or fewer). However, a 77-85 Mets team and an offense that scored the fourth-fewest runs in the NL didn’t help deGrom win many games.

He still earned 29 out of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, despite having a record of just 10-9. It raises the question: With the rise of analytics, combined with the continuous decrease in value of wins and losses, is the win column still important for pitchers?