Around the Empire: Yankees news - 1/11/22

MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco: A week after both Jeff Passan and Evan Drellich reported that Major League Baseball was in the process of preparing an economics proposal to present to the union, Bob Nightengale clarified the timeline a bit by reporting that the league expects to present this proposal “within the next two weeks.” When this happens, it will be the first time that any progress has been made in ending the lockout, as the last time the two sides discussed the core economic issues as the center of the lockout came before the expiration of the previous CBA — and considering the fact that the league did not present any serious offers to the MLBPA at that time, this could, hypothetically, be the first real attempt by the league at coming together and forging a compromise.

The fact that this has taken so long is, in my opinion, a real indictment of the league’s current leadership.

ESPN | Buster Olney (subscription required: Yesterday was a slow news day among for the baseball world in general and the Yankees in particular, which leaves us with not one but two paywalled articles here, which is something that we try to avoid. For those with a subscription to ESPN+, however, Olney’s list of the league’s ten best starting pitchers and ten best relievers highlights just how much talent is on the mound right now. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole finds himself fifth on the list of starters, while Jonathan Loáisiga debuts as the eighth best reliever, with Chad Green receiving an honorable mention.

The Athletic | Stephen J. Nesbitt (subscription required): When Rob Manfred said that the union’s proposals were harmful to the league, he used the player’s proposal to reduce service time requirements for free agency from six years to five, saying “The most negative reaction we have is when a player leaves via free agency. We don’t see making that available earlier as a positive.” The response of the writers at The Athletic, however, was that this did not really reflect what they had been hearing from fans, who were instead more angered at owners not spending money on free agents than at players walking in free agency. And so they opted to run a site-wide survey, to see what fans truly have to say.

If you have a subscription to The Athletic, the survey is worth a look, as it is extremely comprehensive.