Giants move Derek Holland to the bullpen - MLB

In what seemed like a pretty routine move for a struggling starter, the Giants shifted left-hander Derek Holland from the rotation to the bullpen on Saturday night. His next scheduled start, a home game against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, will be handled by right-hander Tyler Beede.

Holland didn’t take the news in stride; on the contrary, he had some pointed remarks to make about the move and those who might have called for it. Per MLB.com’s Maria Guardado:

“To be honest, I have no idea what they’re doing,” he told reporters Saturday. “And I don’t mean that by [Bruce Bochy] and them, it’s more for the front office. We keep changing things. I get a fake injury, so I’m not happy about that. But at the end of the day, I’m going to do whatever they ask me to do.”

Those implications didn’t sit well with members of the front office, including president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi:

“He had a finger issue that he had back in spring training. It flared up. We got an MRI. He felt he could continue pitching. We felt it would be prudent to give him the time off. The decision was collaboratively made. We have extensive medical records of it. His use of the word ‘fake’ probably comes from him feeling he could continue to pitch with it. Players and the staff and front office people sometimes have differences of opinion when they should or shouldn’t play.”

Whether or not Holland was fit to pitch through what, at the time, was termed a ‘bone bruise’ may be beside the point (though, as NBC Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic commented on Saturday, the pitcher’s dissatisfaction has been shared by several of his teammates for a while now). So far this season, his numbers have significantly regressed from the 3.57 ERA and 2.2 fWAR he contributed to the club in 2018. Entering Sunday’s finale against the Reds — for which he’ll be available to pitch out of the bullpen — the lefty holds a 1-4 record through seven starts with a 6.75 ERA, 5.2 BB/9, and 10.9 SO/9 across 34 2/3 innings. During his most recent outing, a 12-11 loss to the Rockies on Thursday, he issued a season-worst seven runs, four walks, and two strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings.

His performance is far from the only problem plaguing the Giants’ rotation. Earlier on Saturday, they optioned Dereck Rodríguez to Triple-A Sacramento, a move that wasn’t wholly unexpected after the right-hander worked up to a 5.05 ERA, 3.7 BB/9, and 6.1 SO/9 in his first eight appearances of 2019. With both Holland and Rodríguez ineffective and unavailable for the time being, the team might turn to some combination of Triple-A starters Ty Blach, Andrew Suarez, and Shaun Anderson to fill the gaps in the rotation next week, though any formal announcements (and subsequent roster moves) have yet to be made.

NEW YORK – Minor league players reached a historic initial collective bargaining agreement with Major League Baseball on Wednesday that will more than double player salaries, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details were not announced.

As part of the five-year deal, MLB agreed during the contract not to reduce minor league affiliates from the current 120.

The sides reached the deal two days before the start of the minor league season and hours after a federal judge gave final approval to a $185 million settlement reached with MLB last May of a lawsuit filed in 2014 alleging violations of federal minimum wage laws.

Union staff recommended approval and about 5,500 minor leaguers were expected to vote on Thursday. MLB teams must also vote to approve and are expected to do so over the next week.

Minimum salaries will rise from $4,800 to $19,800 at rookie ball, $11,000 to $26,200 at Low Class A, $11,000 to $27,300 at High Class A, $13,800 to $27,300 at Double A and $17,500 to $45,800 at Triple-A. Players will be paid in the offseason for the first time.

Most players will be guaranteed housing, and players at Double-A and Triple-A will be given a single room. Players below Double-A will have the option of exchanging club housing for a stipend. The domestic violence and drug policies will be covered by the union agreement. Players who sign for the first time at 19 or older can become minor league free agents after six seasons instead of seven.

Major leaguers have been covered by a labor contract since 1968 and the average salary has soared from $17,000 in 1967 to an average of $4.22 million last season. Full-season minor leaguers earned as little as $10,400 last year.

The Major League Baseball Players Association took over as the bargaining representative of the roughly 5,500 players with minor league contracts last September after a lightning 17-day organization drive.

Minor leaguers players will receive four weeks of retroactive spring training pay for this year. They will get $625 weekly for spring training and offseason training camp and $250 weekly for offseason workouts at home.

Beginning in 2024, teams can have a maximum of 165 players under contract during the season and 175 during the offseason, down from the current 190 and 180.

The union will take over group licensing rights for players.

Negotiating for players was led by Tony Clark, Bruce Meyer, Harry Marino, Ian Penny and Matt Nussbaum. MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem headed management’s bargainers.