ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Across the country, and some oceans, Rays players are preparing diligently for a spring training that seems increasingly unlikely to open as planned in mid-February due to lack of progress in negotiations for a new labor agreement and the rules of disengagement resulting from the owners-induced lockout.
As a result, players are working out on college fields and at private facilities, rehabbing injuries with unfamiliar trainers and therapists, delaying plans to head to Port Charlotte, and getting ready for a season amid uncertainty about when — or even if — they will get on the field.
“I’m sure other guys are saying the exact same thing I’m going to say, but I’m preparing like we are starting on time,” said centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier, who has been working out, as he usually does before camp opens, with the University of Tampa team.
“If that’s not the case, then I’ll just keep doing my thing with UT and stay in baseball shape until we’re called upon. But hopefully this is a sooner-than-later type of thing. I’m getting very antsy. I’m ready. Those juices are starting to flow for me. I’m ready to report and start this long haul once again.”
First baseman Ji-Man Choi sent similar word (and social media videos) from Korea, where he has been working out at a fitness facility and his brother’s baseball academy, planning to head this week as usual to Arizona (where he also has a home and works out at Glendale Community College) and then to Florida once an agreement is reached.
“It would be better if there’s no uncertainty, but it’s for every MLB player, so Ji-Man has to overcome it,” agent John Lee relayed. “He has been working out regularly, focusing on spring training starting on time, but we need to figure out how to prepare for another routine if it is delayed.
“... Ji-Man and I cross our fingers that everything goes well to play baseball on time.”
Though right-hander Tyler Glasnow likely won’t pitch this season while he recovers from Tommy John hybrid surgery, he, too, is eager to get to spring training and for the season to start.
That’s as he heads into a third month unable — due to the lockout rules — to rehab with or even talk to the Rays athletic training staff at Tropicana Field, working instead at a public physical therapy center in mid-Pinellas. (Kiermaier was in a similar situation, starting his rehab from November arthroscopic right knee surgery at the Trop and finishing at a private clinic.)
Glasnow also noted that he can’t check in with pitching coach Kyle Snyder, whom he otherwise would talk, chat and send workout videos to regularly, or manager Kevin Cash.
“It’s a little strange that I can’t go in there (to the Trop), that I don’t have the option,” Glasnow said. “And it’s definitely weird not talking to any of the coaches.”
Glasnow, who regularly texts and/or emails his teammates updates on the negotiations, called it unlikely and “insane” for the entire season to get wiped out. As the Rays’ union rep and a first-hand observer to some of the negotiating sessions, he said patience is going to be necessary for a deal to be struck — and that it may still be awhile.
“I know the union is very stringent; they know what they want,” he said. “Everyone kind of knows where the game needs improvements, and until we see those, it won’t start. It just seems extremely real. Like no one’s really going to budge.
“Service time (for players) has been manipulated for so long; if we can’t get it straightened out now, it’s just going to get worse and worse. I think guys and the union really are kind of on that same page. I mean, everyone’s really coming together on this one. So it’s nice to see.”
Union leaders feel the players will be patient, as there is no financial pressure on them — yet, anyway — as they aren’t paid for spring training.
As a result of the uncertainty, several Rays have held off on booking rentals in the Port Charlotte area — at least for February — to avoid losing money, paying for a condo or house they don’t us (and won’t get reimbursement from the team) as they do in a normal spring. Nor can they come down early and work out at the Trop.
“It’s something that we’re just going to kind of hold off and wait until kind of last minute, just because we don’t really know what’s going to happen,” said pitcher Josh Fleming, who has been training “like we’re still going to be on time” with reliever Pete Fairbanks at a facility near their St. Louis-area homes.
“I guess worst comes to worst, we can stay at the team hotel. … Everything’s crazy expensive (in that area) as it is, and I’m sure once it gets closer to that time, any last-minute thoughts of getting like an Airbnb or something, I feel like price is going to be through the roof.”
This could be a key spring for Fleming, who is determined, after a mid-2021 shift to relief work, to win back a spot in a rotation that appears full.
It definitely is a big one for Ford Proctor, a 25-year-old catcher/infielder who was added to the 40-man roster in November and is adamant the uncertainty over the start date won’t take away from the thrill of going to his first big-league camp.
“You know what? I’m just excited,” Proctor said from his Beaumont, Texas, home. “When I got added to the 40-man … it was a pretty cool experience. This has been my dream since I was a kid. So to be added was pretty gratifying for me and humbling. I know that the work is just getting started. The ultimate goal is to play in the big leagues for a long time. So this is the first step along the way.
“... I’m preparing as if we’re starting on time. That’s what I’m telling myself, just because I want to be ready for the earliest possible date we can be there.”
For now, that’s about all they can do.
