{"id":573715,"date":"2026-04-09T10:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/573715\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T10:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:59:09","slug":"is-mlb-heading-for-a-lockout-why-is-tony-vitello-under-scrutiny-jim-bowden-mailbag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/573715\/","title":{"rendered":"Is MLB heading for a lockout? Why is Tony Vitello under scrutiny? Jim Bowden mailbag"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, the baseball world awoke to the announcement that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Konnor Griffin agreed to a nine-year, $140 million contract extension<\/a>, a momentous achievement not just for Griffin but for the Pirates as an organization. The contract buys out at least three years of salary arbitration and three years of free agency and Griffin becomes the highest paid rookie in MLB history.<\/p>\n

If Griffin merely comes close to meeting expectations, this will eventually become the most club-friendly contract for any young player in the sport, saving the team tens of millions of dollars or more. If Kyle Tucker got $60 million per year as a free agent this offseason, imagine what Griffin (if he nears his ceiling as a player) would have gotten when he reached free agency in years seven, eight and nine of the deal. Those three years alone have the potential to be worth way more than this entire contract.<\/p>\n

The deal works for both sides, though. Griffin gets lifetime financial security as a teenager and will go back on the free-agent market at age 27, where he can then sign another 10- or 12-year contract. He\u2019s set for life even if he doesn\u2019t live up to expectations or deals with injuries.<\/p>\n

The best part of this contract isn\u2019t how the team and player did financially, it\u2019s how Pirates fans won. They don\u2019t have to worry about Griffin becoming the next Dave Parker departing in free agency or Gerrit Cole being traded. They have their star position player for the next nine years. Now if their front office can get Paul Skenes extended, then they\u2019ll have perennial Cy Young and MVP candidates for years to come.<\/p>\n

This is a great day in Pittsburgh Pirates history.<\/p>\n

Late last week, we put a call out for mailbag questions and got several good ones in return. Below are my answers to the questions you submitted. We\u2019ll start first with labor\/business-related questions since the looming CBA negotiations are clearly on many of your minds, and for good reason. Then we\u2019ll dive into more typical baseball-related questions.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your questions and let\u2019s get right to it.<\/p>\n

Imagine that the owners were motivated enough to offer a \u201cgrand bargain\u201d for a salary cap and floor system. MLB (Luxury Tax) salaries across the 30 teams will be $6.087 billion with average spend of $202.9 million. Any proposal is likely to have to guarantee an increase in total spend, in other words the players as a group will likely need a meaningful raise in order to give up what they consider their crown jewel. Of course, an increase in MLB payroll is only one component of a grand bargain, other components might involve changes to team control of players, roster sizes, minor league compensation, MLB and MiLB minimum salary.\u00a0\u2014 Jay O.<\/p>\n

The owners clearly would like to be able to implement a salary floor and cap with the idea of offering players more of a share of the revenues to get an infrastructure in place like the other major sports leagues (NBA, NHL and NFL). This would include a significant increase in floors for small-market teams and a significant raise for the minimum salaries.<\/p>\n

The players association is vehemently opposed to this concept, however, even if it helps the majority of their players and the teams they play on. This will make this particular CBA negotiation as difficult as it\u2019s ever been during MLB commissioner Rob Manfred\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n

The current financial structure of baseball greatly favors large-market teams over small-market teams, and it \u201cmight\u201d also favor superstar MLB players over non-stars in comparison to an NFL-style system. But I could easily envision an NFL-style system that favors MLB players in total compared to the current system. Does the MLBPA critically examine a proposal on the basis of what is in the best interest of the MLBPA players as a whole, or does it base its consideration of a proposal in favor of its superstar players? \u2014 Joe P.<\/p>\n

Based on their present position on the issue, I believe they care most about the superstar players and big-market teams and having little-to-no restrictions on how much money the biggest-market teams spend and the best players get paid rather than the entire body of players and teams.
With all of the chaos caused by the fall of regional sports networks, wouldn\u2019t now be a good time to strip the clubs that have their own networks like the Yankees or the Dodgers of their rights to broadcast their games and package the entire MLB broadcast rights together? Might that fix a lot of the income disparity across the league?\u00a0\u2014 Grant S.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always believed that TV, streaming and radio rights should be shared equally with all 30 teams because you can\u2019t play the games unless you have an opponent and all teams and players should get equal share of those games being played. In an ideal world, that\u2019s how it would work.<\/p>\n

Is the lockout after the season inevitable? Are games going to be canceled in 2027? What alternatives can you suggest to even up the competitive balance amongst MLB teams?\u00a0\u2014 Bear B.<\/p>\n

Major League Baseball has never been in better shape overall and a work stoppage would be devastating to the game and the momentum it presently has. Hopefully, both sides will work hard on improving the game in all aspects in this next CBA without games being cancelled.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind, since Manfred has been commissioner, no regular season games have been cancelled due to a work stoppage over labor disputes. Hopefully, that will be the case again this time around if both sides negotiate in good faith.<\/p>\n

\"Luis<\/p>\n

\n It hasn\u2019t been the smoothest start to the season for Tony Vitello, Luis Arraez and the rest of the San Francisco Giants. (Thearon W. Henderson \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

You came out with some early criticism of Tony Vitello. Why is everyone so worried about every word he says, every coaching decision he makes? Didn\u2019t we see this happen in the NBA with Brad Stevens? I believe he led the Celtics to the Finals. Why not let it play out a bit instead of putting him under a microscope? \u2014 Jeff T.<\/p>\n

Every manager and GM is always under a microscope in every market. In Tony\u2019s case, it\u2019s even more extreme because he never played, coached or managed professionally at any level, instead going directly from college to the big leagues.<\/p>\n

In his first few weeks, there have been a lot of \u201cfires\u201d to put out due to some of his comments, players publicly disputing his positions, players calling each other out during games and several clubhouse incidents, some that went public and some that didn\u2019t. That\u2019s all a reflection on the manager and leadership.<\/p>\n

As soon as the Giants start winning, and the fires and incidents aren\u2019t popping up as much, everyone will put the magnifying glasses away and it will work itself out. Winning and no sidebar issues solve everything for managers.<\/p>\n

Was the Pirates\u2019 \u201ceffort\u201d in free agency this year enough to convince better talent next year to sign there? Odds they open their wallets a little more to help? \u2014 Matt B.<\/p>\n

The Pirates have a perennial Cy Young Award candidate in Paul Skenes and they now have a future MVP candidate in Konnor Griffin. By themselves, those cornerstone players will make Pittsburgh more attractive in recruiting free agents in the future.<\/p>\n

In addition, ownership\u2019s willingness to spend money in free agency and taking on contracts in trades brings optimism. They\u2019ve already built a postseason caliber starting rotation and that will also convince more players to sign in Pittsburgh in future years. Baseball is back in Pittsburgh, and I\u2019m here for it.<\/p>\n

When is the most likely time Colt Emerson and Cooper Pratt get brought up to the majors? Are these long-term contracts for minor-league players going to become more common? Or is it more of a fluke? Or based on the potential work stoppage?\u00a0\u2014 Eric M.<\/p>\n

I think Colt Emerson will be major-league ready later this summer, and that timeline could speed up if an injury occurs to second baseman Cole Young, shortstop J.P. Crawford or third baseman Brendan Donovan that puts any of the three on the IL for a significant time. When Emerson arrives this year, my guess is it will be to play third base.<\/p>\n

Pratt is a different story because he\u2019s a defense-first player and has a lot of work to do with the bat before he is major-league ready. The Brewers also have a lot of depth in the infield at the major- and minor-league levels. My guess is he\u2019ll be ready sometime in 2027.<\/p>\n

I discussed Pratt\u2019s contract and why teams are rushing to sign their young, non-arbitration-eligible players to long-term deals here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Is it too early to worry about the Red Sox\u2019s lack of offense or do they need to trade from their minor league pipeline for a bat?\u00a0\u2014 Keith F.<\/p>\n

The Red Sox need another bat and a team leader. They really miss third baseman Alex Bregman, who signed with the Cubs in the offseason, and they really needed to pivot to Bo Bichette before he signed with the Mets. I think the Red Sox should be working hard at improving third base to free up Caleb Durbin to be a super-utility player.<\/p>\n

Yes, they need another bat if they want to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n

What level of production should Royals fans realistically expect from Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone this season?\u00a0\u2014 Lloyd W.<\/p>\n

I expect Jensen to be in the conversation with the Tigers\u2019 Kevin McGonigle and the White Sox\u2019s Munetaka Murakami for AL Rookie of the Year. I think Caglianone will hit at minimum between 20 and 25 homers when all is said and done. They are both going to develop into All-Star caliber players over the next three years.<\/p>\n

Do you believe baseball writers underestimated or misunderstood the impact of injuries to Yordan Alvarez, Jeremy Pe\u00f1a, Isaac Paredes and Josh Hader (and to a lesser extent, Jake Meyers) on the Astros missing the playoffs by one game and the AL West by three? It seems like everyone has them second or even third in the division and likely not to make the playoffs, based on last year\u2019s miss. \u2014 Todd L.<\/p>\n

The Astros would have won the AL West last year if they had stayed healthy, but injuries are part of the game. No, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the reason why most of us \u2014 including me \u2014 have the Astros as the second-place team in the AL West this year. It\u2019s because of the starting pitching. The Mariners are eight deep and the Astros are going to miss Framber Valdez more than they think. Now they are dealing with their ace Hunter Brown\u2019s right shoulder strain<\/a> and are counting on both Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers Jr. to stay healthy, and Javier might be hurt now<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n

As much as we all like the ceiling of newcomers Mike Burrows and Tatsuya Imai, it remains to be seen how consistent they\u2019ll be over 30 starts. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I can see the Astros making the playoffs, but I believe the Mariners are the favorites because of their starting pitching quality and depth.<\/p>\n

Do teams have procedures or protocols on when to signal for an ABS review? \u2014 Ed H.<\/p>\n

Every team has different philosophies, protocols and procedures for how they are handling the ABS System. However, most teams do have a \u201cred\u201d light, \u201cgreen light\u201d approach for their pitchers, hitters and catchers on when they can and can\u2019t challenge.<\/p>\n

If you could go back in time, would you have allowed Tony Perez to manage longer?\u00a0\u2014 Mlb F.<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

What does Thad Levine bring to Milwaukee\u2019s front office? And is there anything you know of that the Brewers don\u2019t do as well as or better than other teams\u2019 management teams?\u00a0\u2014 Gary D.<\/p>\n

Levine brings experience in all phases of baseball operations, including scouting, player development, analytics and leadership.<\/p>\n

The Brewers do a terrific job of focusing on pitching and defense and targeting athletes and players with special makeup and strong character evaluations. They also crush teams in the middle rounds of drafts, specifically in the Midwest.<\/p>\n

I became a huge Jarred Kelenic fan when he was traded to the Mariners, and I still am a fan. I believe I was the very first person in Seattle to buy his jersey. I still root for him and check how he is doing (sadly, in the minor leagues) most every day. He had some early success in Seattle, he\u2019s not injured, he still seems to care. You said he would be a superstar, and the Mets would regret the trade. Any idea what has happened?\u00a0\u2014 Joe P.<\/p>\n

Kelenic had four of the five tools to develop into a superstar. That missing fifth tool for him was the \u201chit\u201d tool and it never developed. Consequently, his holes at the plate against both fastballs and secondary pitches never were solved. If you don\u2019t hit, you don\u2019t make it in baseball as an outfielder. Unfortunately, he lands in the category of bust that so many of the top prospects find themselves in, like Delmon Young, Mickey Moniak and Drew Henson.<\/p>\n

How is Jim Bowden still employed? \u2014 Shawn C.<\/p>\n

Hi Shawn, how are you today? Part of the reason is that people like you consistently go to my articles and then engage in the comment section on a regular basis. So, therefore, I guess my family and I should be thanking you for your support and your help in keeping me employed, so I can provide for my family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday, the baseball world awoke to the announcement that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Konnor Griffin agreed to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2317,4818,2111,371,374,479,2318,2319,2320,1230,372,373,2321,2322,2323,2324,2325,2326,363,1189,369,480,2240,2328,2329,481,99,1231,974,2330,364,2331],"class_list":{"0":"post-573715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","9":"tag-athletics","10":"tag-atlanta-braves","11":"tag-baltimore-orioles","12":"tag-boston-red-sox","13":"tag-chicago-cubs","14":"tag-chicago-white-sox","15":"tag-cincinnati-reds","16":"tag-cleveland-guardians","17":"tag-colorado-rockies","18":"tag-detroit-tigers","19":"tag-houston-astros","20":"tag-kansas-city-royals","21":"tag-los-angeles-angels","22":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","23":"tag-miami-marlins","24":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","25":"tag-minnesota-twins","26":"tag-mlb","27":"tag-new-york-mets","28":"tag-new-york-yankees","29":"tag-philadelphia-phillies","30":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","31":"tag-san-diego-padres","32":"tag-san-francisco-giants","33":"tag-seattle-mariners","34":"tag-sports","35":"tag-st-louis-cardinals","36":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","37":"tag-texas-rangers","38":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","39":"tag-washington-nationals"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}