{"id":764662,"date":"2026-07-15T16:29:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/764662\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:29:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:29:23","slug":"al-where-have-you-been-all-this-time-plus-punishments-for-skipping-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/764662\/","title":{"rendered":"AL, where have you been all this time? Plus: Punishments for skipping Olympics?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB<\/a> newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of pitching, do I have an All-Star Game for you! If you\u2019re into clean audio feeds, uhhh \u2026 get back to me. Plus: Evan Drellich tells us about the league\u2019s proposal to ensure that if MLB players are allowed to play in the Olympics, they actually \u2026 do that.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Levi Weaver \u2014 welcome to The Windup!<\/p>\n

All-Star Game: American League prevails<\/p>\n

The American League All-Star team knocked off that of the National League 4-0 in the 96th Midsummer Classic yesterday in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Now\u00a0that\u00a0is what I call parity.<\/p>\n

The first half of the MLB season saw just five AL teams with winning records, while the NL has 10 teams at .500 or higher. But that didn\u2019t matter in last night\u2019s game. A few highlights from it:<\/p>\n

Of all the unexpected outcomes,\u00a0the AL scoring three runs in the first inning off Phillies starter Cristopher S\u00e1nchez ranks right up there.\u00a0Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice did all the damage \u2014\u00a0Bellinger won MVP<\/a>\u00a0for his two RBIs \u2014\u00a0and that was all the scoring until the eighth inning, because \u2026
\nThe pitching was lights-out.\u00a0After Toronto starter Dylan Cease struck out the side \u2014 aka retired three batters in an inning by strikeouts \u2014 in the first, AL pitchers continued to dominate. The NL didn\u2019t get a hit until a Juan Soto single in the fourth inning, and 11 pitchers combined to rack up 15 strikeouts (and only three hits and two walks). On the NL side, the eight pitchers after S\u00e1nchez struck out 10 (for a total of 12), and allowed just four more hits and no walks for the rest of the night. One of those hits was \u2026
\nAn eighth-inning home run by the White Sox\u2019s Miguel Vargas,\u00a0who teed off on former Dodgers teammate Justin Wrobleski to tack on the evening\u2019s final run. Vargas has been the best player by bWAR (3.2) on a surprising White Sox team (50-45) that sits in a virtual tie with the Guardians (51-46) atop the AL Central.
\nThe most frightening moment of the night came in the top of the third inning, when Rays third baseman Junior Caminero was\u00a0hit in the hand<\/a>\u00a0by a Riley O\u2019Brien pitch. Caminero lay on the ground in pain for a minute or so before immediately leaving the game.\u00a0Fortunately, X-rays came back negative.\u00a0Caminero has been a massive contributor to the Rays (56-38), who lead the AL East by three games over the Yankees (54-42).
\nAfter a flurry of pitching changes in the late innings, it was Rays closer Bryan Baker \u2014 not Aroldis Chapman or Louis Varland \u2014 who finished it off.\u00a0It was the first shutout in an All-Star Game since 2013.
\nAnd lastly, while there was some consternation about fans making Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement the AL\u2019s highest vote-getter,\u00a0he did have the defensive play of the game.\u00a0Check this out:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, the batter was Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages. As noted on the broadcast by Joe Davis, it was\u00a0not the first time<\/a>\u00a0one of these men had robbed the other with a great defensive play. (Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez was safely out of the way for this one.)<\/p>\n

More All-Star Game:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Middle Relief: MLB to punish players skipping Olympics?<\/p>\n

Today, we have\u00a0Evan Drellich\u2019s report<\/a>\u00a0on the league\u2019s proposal regarding MLB players\u2019 involvement in the 2028 Olympics. Here\u2019s an excerpt:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Go to the Olympics or suffer the consequences.<\/p>\n

In a May proposal to the union, MLB said it wants big leaguers to face an effective suspension longer than three weeks \u2014 a period that would last into the second half of the regular season \u2014 if they are chosen to participate in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles but skip out without an approved excuse.<\/p>\n

From as early as July 10, 2028, through Aug. 3, 2028,\u00a0players who choose not to play in the Summer Games would be on the restricted list without pay or service time,\u00a0per a copy of the proposal reviewed by\u00a0The Athletic. Placement on the injury list would technically be an approved excuse, but with a wrinkle: such players would get pay and service time, but would not be able to return to regular-season action until after the same day, Aug. 3.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Bruce Meyer, the head of the Players Association, called the league\u2019s proposal \u201cextreme.\u201d MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, meanwhile, said the proposal was made on the premise that the 2028 Summer Games are \u201ca unique opportunity to market the sport with our very, very best players.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a disruptive undertaking for us,\u201d Manfred said Tuesday. \u201cPut money to one side. You\u2019re disrupting an entire season, and if we\u2019re going to undertake that effort, we want our very best out there so that people see how great our game really is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The league, the union and the Games\u2019 organizers are in the early stages of negotiations<\/a>\u00a0over player participation in 2028, something that would be a novel development for the top baseball players in the world.\u00a0Never before have big leaguers en masse gone to the Summer Games.<\/p>\n

But the parties have a bevy of issues to work out first, including whether Olympic participation is mandatory. The league doesn\u2019t appear to view its participation proposal as the primary holdup, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made a proposal to the union which included a schedule and a mandatory participation agreement,\u201d MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin said in a statement. \u201cThe union then pursued a negotiation with (the local organizing committee) LA28 over largely economic issues, including housing and tickets, and told us they would not respond until they finished with LA28.\u201d<\/p>\n

To accommodate the baseball portion of the Olympics, which is set to run from July 13-19 in 2028, the usual midseason All-Star break would be extended. The first half of the regular season would wrap up July 9, and the All-Star Game is then set to be played July 11, likely in San Francisco. The regular season would resume on July 21.<\/p>\n

For the rest of Drellich\u2019s article,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More MLB-MLBPA negotiations:\u00a0Both sides spoke to reporters at the All-Star Game about the ongoing CBA negotiations. Drellich\u00a0has the latest here<\/a>. Meanwhile, the\u00a0MLBPA had some thoughts<\/a>\u00a0about the league\u2019s commercial promoting a salary cap.<\/p>\n

All-Star Game, Cont\u2019d: Let\u2019s talk about that audio<\/p>\n

After all the kerfuffle about Netflix broadcasting the Home Run Derby, the biggest broadcast gaffe of All-Star Week was from whoever chose the mics FOX used for its in-game interviews.\u00a0Actually, the audio was pretty rough all night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The problems started in the first inning, when a low hum permeated through the broadcast. I still have no idea what it was \u2014 it sounded like a cross between bass guitar feedback and someone blowing into a glass bottle.<\/p>\n

But the biggest issue was the on-field mics,\u00a0which frequently cut out and were plagued by a weird coil-reverb sound.<\/p>\n

I should clarify: I\u2019m not one of those \u201cThey shouldn\u2019t be interviewing players during the game!\u201d grumps. Mostly. I don\u2019t think it should happen in games where the outcome matters, but during an All-Star Game, I\u2019m riveted. I\u00a0wanted\u00a0to hear Cease and Shea Langeliers, even (especially?) if they just mostly just discussed what pitch to throw next.<\/p>\n

I think one at-bat is too short a time to be on mic, and I could live without most of the questions the players are asked. But hearing the strategy while the game is going on? Phenomenal.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the audio made it difficult to focus on what was being said, which was a huge bummer.<\/p>\n

It did give us an entertaining hot-mic moment, at least. When Kyle Schwarber\u2019s earpiece wouldn\u2019t stay in, he began his mic\u2019d-up at-bat with a frustrated \u201cf\u2014 it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox does plenty of big sporting events that it should have gotten this right. I know microphones are notoriously tricky, and it\u2019s live TV, so things go wrong. But it was bad enough to be distracting, which is a huge bummer.<\/p>\n

Handshakes and High Fives<\/p>\n

No. 1 draft pick Roch Cholowsky and the White Sox wasted no time making it official. They\u2019ve reportedly agreed on a\u00a0record $10.35 million signing bonus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More on the Bryce Harper FanDuel video: Manfred says\u00a0the league is looking into the matter<\/a>, but Harper did not violate the CBA.<\/p>\n

The Padres sale process is still ongoing. It looks like the vote to approve the sale won\u2019t happen until\u00a0after the trade deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over on Bluesky, BleedCubbieBlue sent me\u00a0a story from a few years ago<\/a>\u00a0on that 1990 Home Run Derby\u00a0I wrote about yesterday<\/a>. There\u2019s still not a\u00a0lot\u00a0of video, but there is some I hadn\u2019t seen!<\/p>\n

Keith Law has his AL division-by-division draft recaps. Here\u2019s the AL\u00a0East<\/a>,\u00a0Central<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0West<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We have a new Shohei Ohtani record: One of the Dodgers star\u2019s rookie cards\u00a0just sold for $3.365 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in our last Windup:\u00a0Andrew Marchand\u2019s review of the\u00a0Netflix Home Run Derby broadcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love The Windup? Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-764662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764662","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=764662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}