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Masahiro Tanaka is officially a member of the New York Yankees organization.

When the team welcomed him to America with a press conference at Yankee Stadium, the brightest pitching star from Japan entered Major League Baseball. Within a few days, fans and media members will garner a live view of his pitches and ability.

For now, we have his personality and demeanor to dissect.

After shelling out $175 million for Tanaka, including the posting fee to his Japanese team, the Yankees are counting on him to lead their rotation for a long time. If his first press conference was any indication, the franchise just landed a star.

Here are the key takeaways from Masahiro Tanaka’s first Yankees press conference.

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For the Atlanta Braves, a core of young, ascending talent is a blessing. But it’s also a curse for long-term payroll planning.

When the organization re-signed first baseman Freddie Freeman to an eight-year, $135 million deal, the cornerstone of the future was secured. Yet, without talent around him, Freeman’s salary, production and prime will be wasted in Atlanta.

Luckily for the Braves, the supporting cast is already in tow. The quintet of Jason Heyward, Andrelton Simmons, Mike Minor, Craig Kimbrel and Julio Teheran form the core of a winning team around Freeman in 2014 and beyond.

Of course, if all five of Freeman’s gifted teammates follow his path to riches, difficult decisions will ensue within Atlanta’s front office. After the Freeman signing was announced, Braves general manager Frank Wren portrayed the biggest deal in franchise history as one step in a detailed plan, per Mark Bowman of MLB.com.

“That’s our expectation, or we wouldn’t have done [the Freeman deal],” Wren said. “If we felt this would put us in a bind to be competitive, we would not have done it. We feel like the revenues will allow our payroll to grow significantly.”

Much like in any business, revenue is the key to re-investment. For the Braves to keep its young core together, Wren needs to be correct. When the Braves announced a plan to move into a new stadium—less than 20 years after the completion of Turner Field—heads turned. Yet, when taking a look at Atlanta’s payroll figures over the last 10 years, a picture of a mid-market franchise emerges. 

During the announcement of the stadium project at the recent general managers’ meetings, Ron Starner, a writer for Site Selection Magazine in Peachtree Corners, Ga., envisioned Atlanta’s payroll increasing with the new park. Per Jerry Crasnick’s column for ESPN:

“The signal I take from this is that the Braves want to be a more competitive ballclub in Major League Baseball,” said Starner. “They’re never going to compete with the Yankees in terms of payroll, but they needed a stadium deal in a new location to maximize their revenues. The revenues were always going to be limited if they had chosen to remain at Turner Field.”

“Limited” may be putting it lightly.  

Over the last decade, Atlanta’s payroll hasn’t exceeded $103 million in any year. By 2017, when the Braves enter the new Cobb County, GA., stadium, Freddie Freeman is slated to make over $20 million. 

Unless something changes dramatically within Atlanta’s business model, the idea of keeping its six young stars together throughout their respective primes is a ridiculous notion.

When studying the burgeoning talents of Heyward, Kimbrel, Simmons, Minor and Teheran, it’s not hard to imagine a time where all five are National League All-Stars. The trajectory of young players isn’t often linear and injury or attrition could slow down their respective paths. Yet, the talent is there for consistent excellence.

For Frank Wren and Atlanta’s front office, that thought is exciting. It’s also potentially worrisome.

Heyward, signed to a two-year, $13.3 million deal, will hit free agency after the 2015 season. When he hits the open market, it’s not hard to imagine a team willing to offer him a deal in excess of $150 million. 

Why? Jacoby Ellsbury garnered a seven-year, $153 million deal from the New York Yankees this offseason. Part of the reason: A .350 career on-base percentage. Heading into the 2014 season, Heyward‘s career OBP—two years before free agency arrives—is .352.

Craig Kimbrel is on the path to becoming the richest closer in baseball history. When his arbitration case is decided, the 25-year-old closer may earn $9 million in his first year at the negotiating table. As of now, the arbitration record for a closer is the $12 million secured by Jonathan Papelbon in his third year of arbitration.

Kimbrel, two years ahead of that record pace, will likely surpass Papelbon’s four-year, $52 million free-agent contract. By 2017, estimating a yearly salary of $17 million for Kimbrel isn’t difficult. 

Since the 2012 All-Star break, Mike Minor has pitched 286 innings, posted a 2.96 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 4.00 SO/BB and 7.8 K/9. Those numbers put him in select company among starting pitchers in the sport, specifically when it comes to ERA. In 2013, only 13 starters pitched to an ERA lower. 

By 2017, Minor will be in his final year before free agency, barring a long-term extension. Finding compensating for future arbitration-eligible pitchers is difficult, but after earning $3.85 million as a super-two player this winter, future salaries could skyrocket for the 26-year-old lefty.

Last year, during his age-22 season, Julio Teheran posted a 3.78 SO/BB rate. That feat has been been matched by only five other pitchers in the history of the sport. Their names: Walter Johnson, Bert Blyleven, Mark Prior, Madison Bumgarner and Mat Latos.

If Teheran continues on this path and becomes a top-of-the rotation arm, the Braves would be wise to buyout his arbitration years and early free-agent trips. If Frank Wren looks at that list, Madison Bumgarner‘s contract extension in San Francisco will stand out. By 2017, Teheran will be in arbitration for the second time. Bumgarner‘s extension netted him $6.75 million at the same juncture.

Andrelton Simmons’ future earnings are hard to predict, but this much is clear: If his value progresses over the next few years, the slick-fielding shortstop could break the bank in arbitration by 2017. Last year, Simmons was worth 6.7 bWAR during his age-23 season. In the history of baseball, only three shortstops—Cal Ripken, Arky Vaughan and Joe Cronin—have exceeded that value at the same age. 

Three notable shortstops that ranked below Simmons: Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Jose Reyes. 

When long-term contracts arrived for those young stars, Reyes’ six-year, $106 million deal was by far the least lucrative among the trio of up-the-middle stars.

As of this moment, the Braves have $37.9 million committed to their 2017 payroll, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Clearly, the team will need to take more than just B.J. Upton and Freddie Freeman into the new stadium. In order to keep together an outstanding young core, at least another $60-80 million will need to be allotted just for the young pieces on the roster. 

When factoring in the needs for the rest of the roster—including 60 percent of a rotation and four everyday position players—the Braves likely need to move toward a $140 million payroll to keep the core happy and in Atlanta.

Heading into the 2014 season, the Braves are a good team with a bright future. Eventually, major decisions will have to come and the business model will be significantly altered.

If it’s not, stars like Craig Kimbrel and Jason Heyward won’t accompany Freddie Freeman into the next chapter of Braves baseball.

Agree? Disagree?

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk about all things baseball. 

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Arbitration numbers and projections courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors. Roster projections courtesy of MLB Depth Charts.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Upon signing an eight-year, $135 million contract, Freddie Freeman became the face of the Atlanta Braves franchise. He also became the symbol of why teams—for better or worse—will be forced to make major payroll-altering decisions with future pre-arbitration cases.

The concept of buying out arbitration and free-agent years isn’t new. In the early ’90s, Cleveland Indians executive John Hart, now known to a younger generation as a contributor on MLB Network programming, was blessed with an abundance of young, impact talent.

From Jim Thome to Charles Nagy to Manny Ramirez, the mid-market Indians couldn’t possibly keep all of their stars when arbitration cases began to arise. Forget re-signing a future Hall of Fame hitter like Thome when free agency arrived; the Indians couldn’t afford his second or third trip to the arbitration table.

Thus, a plan was born out of necessity: Re-sign the best young talent in the organization to long-term deals before arbitration years arrive.

While the concept is now commonplace, it wasn’t always. Hart’s forward-thinking mentality changed baseball. In each of these cases, the team and player take on risk. If the player is injured, flames out or was improperly evaluated, millions could be lost. If a player excels and dominates the sport, his agent likely lost out on huge gains in yearly arbitration cases.

All of this brings us to Freeman and the contract he signed this winter.

From the time Hart began this now commonplace practice, the outcome of deals usually led to middle ground for both team and player: When free-agent years arrived, players would be compensated. However, they would make far less than what would likely be available on the open market.

The following chart represents five recent contract extensions. The sixth, Freeman, changed the game.

In most cases, the first few free-agent years would net a young player a healthy raise but leave them short of the top salaries in the game. Due to Freddie Freeman emerging at such a young age, the Braves gave him his big free-agent deal now.

As general managers around the sport study these numbers, questions must be emerging in front offices around the sport: What is the going rate for a future superstar? How much would Mike Trout, the best pre-arbitration player in recent memory, cost to sign right now? Would any owner be willing to award $100 million deals to players barely out of the minors? 

The job of a general manager is becoming harder by the day, folks.

Let’s start with the first question.

The going rate for a future superstar is changing because value is looked at in a different way than in the past. Batting average, home runs and RBI aren’t just old school. They are completely out of touch with how agents, executives and owners now view the game. Joey Votto may have caused a stir, per ESPN 1530 in Cincinnati, when he cited wRC+ as his favorite stat, but it’s likely a big part of the reason he was awarded a contract in excess of $200 million. 

According to Fangraphs, which uses its WAR calculations to determine value, Freddie Freeman was worth $23.9 million last season. For the Braves, that puts a five-year, $106.5 million (the amount Atlanta is paying for five free-agent years) in perspective.

When the Rays gambled on Evan Longoria, they were rewarded with the best value in baseball for four straight years, per Jonah Keri of Grantland. Furthermore, those types of calculations validated Seattle’s $240 million outlay to Robinson Cano this winter. In a game flush with revenue and cash, true stars are worth major salaries.

When Freeman signed his deal, this was the first thought I had: If he’s worth $135 million, what would Mike Trout be able to garner right now?

A side-by-side look at their numbers over the last two years—Trout’s first two in the big leagues, nonetheless—paints a sobering picture: At a younger age, Trout is twice the player.

While that doesn’t necessarily mean he could ask for a contract of $270 million tomorrow, the Angels have to be considering what the market will look like as the years go on and if their player will become the first $400 million-man in baseball history. 

From the moment John Hart started a trend, risk has been associated with the team. With Trout, the risk of not signing him immediately is even greater. Assuming another 10 bWAR season from Trout in 2014 would put him on a path no one has ever been on in baseball history. When his agent reaches the negotiating table for arbitration, the sky will be the limit. 

Clearly, cases like Freeman and Trout are rare. The idea of a 24-year-old first baseman, three years from free agency, hitting the $135 million jackpot isn’t likely to happen again soon. If a general manager tries to save his owner money by suggesting a $90 or $100 million deal for a 20-year-old call-up, a tirade might ensue.

Yet if a player like Trout or Bryce Harper or Jose Fernandez emerges, it’s not ridiculous to think about risking millions to save millions.

Freddie Freeman changed game for future baseball executives. If players on the path to stardom can garner star-level money, perhaps the next John Hart will offer a $100 million deal to a 20-year-old phenom.

Agree? Disagree?

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk about all things baseball.

*Additional salary details courtesy of Troy Renck of the Denver Post, Dan Hayes of Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Michael Sanserino of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Cliff Corcoran of Sports Illustrated.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

As pitchers and catchers report for duty, baseball fans can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Before long, the 2014 Major League Baseball season will begin.

After a long, cold winter, baseball is back. 

For most of us, the wait was endless. If you latched onto the hot-stove season, disappointment likely followed.

Sure, Masahiro Tanaka arrived, Alex Rodriguez departed and Prince Fielder and Doug Fister were involved in blockbuster trades. But for die-hard fans, headline-grabbing moves and legacy-altering suspensions can’t rival actual baseball. For those ready for the game, it’s time to look ahead at how the season could unfold.

With some rosters undecided, free agents still available and trade candidates loitering around many teams, predicting how the regular season will play out is no easy task.

Luckily, we’re up for the challenge here at Bleacher Report. Over the next six weeks, these predictions are subject to change. For now, the following is a look at how the 2014 Major League Baseball standings should play out.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Arbitration numbers and projections courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors. Roster projections courtesy of MLB Depth Charts.

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Alex Rodriguez has given up on his pursuit to play Major League Baseball in 2014. For a player who has made a career out of negative public relations, the sport gave up on him a long time ago.

After filing a lawsuit against his own union, watching his fellow union members attempt to kick him out and alienating every ally left in the sport, Rodriguez has waved the white towel in his fight against a 2014 suspension. 

Yes, the news, reported by Jim Baumbach of Newsday and confirmed by the MLBPA, is a major story as the sport ascends on spring-training destinations. 

Unfortunately for a player so enamored with the history of baseball, there’s no way for Rodriguez to rewrite his own history or reverse the damage that his career-long infatuation with success and on-field dominance created. 

For the last 20 years, Rodriguez has made a mess of himself, his respective teams and Major League Baseball. To be honest, some of the vitriol against him is blatantly unfair. One of the greatest players in the history of baseball is a product of his environment. From steroids to money to personality, Rodriguez grew up in a game that set him up for success, but also failure.

The news came as a surprise, leaving those around the game wondering why Rodriguez would give up in his pursuit to play this season. Without a lawsuit against MLB and MLBPA, the full-season ban for 2014 can’t be lifted. Baseball fans won’t see Rodriguez again until 2015, at the earliest.

That was assured when one of Rodriguez’s lawyers, Joe Tacopina, confirmed that his client won’t be attending New York Yankees spring training, with Ken Davidoff of the New York Post sharing the revelation. 

If Rodriguez and his legal team think that a year away from the game will lessen the anger toward the former three-time AL MVP, they could be right. Fans will find a new villain or another scandal to latch onto, and the media will cover it with the same vigor that overtook the Rodriguez story.

Yet, a year away or waving the white flag can only alter the present. The past is in the record books.

When Rodriguez resurfaces in 2015, the MLBPA will be required to back its member. The lawsuit, despite only lasting for a few weeks before this dismissal, won’t be allowed to be a detriment or impact Rodriguez’s rights within the CBA. If the Yankees release Rodriguez before the end of 2017, expect the union to make sure that its member receives every penny he’s owed.

In a statement issued by Major League Baseball, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the league acknowledged Rodriguez’s path back to the field of play when his suspension is over.

“We believe that Mr. Rodriguez’s actions show his desire to return the focus to the play of our great game on the field and to all of the positive attributes and actions of his fellow Major League Players,” MLB said.

But don’t expect the union to ever go above and beyond for Rodriguez again.

If the Yankees write Rodriguez a $61 million check to walk away after the 2014 season, he’ll be free to sign with any team in baseball. With the Yankees paying his salary, he could be had for the league-minimum rate. Even after a year off, half the teams in baseball should be willing—from a strictly baseball perspective—to bring him into camp next spring.

Yet that scenario is highly unlikely.

Instead, there’s a chance that he receives the Barry Bonds treatment. In other words, a form of collusion between owners in which it’s agreed that no one signs the player. When a situation like this arises, the MLBPA should fight for its member. 

If it happens to A-Rod, don’t expect much of a fight to take place.

As the waning days of Rodriguez’s baseball career slowly drip away, it’s amazing to reminisce about the career and legacy that he seemed destined to have. From the No. 1 overall pick in the draft to phenom in Seattle to dominance at such a young age, predicting Rodriguez to be remembered as the best and most famous baseball player in the modern era wouldn’t have been crazy. 

Now? His career and legacy look worse by the hour.

Despite moving on from a PED admission in 2009, Rodriguez wasn’t close to beloved. Yet he was playing out his career on the field, climbing up the record books and in position to be remembered—PEDs or not—as one of the best ever. 

That may still be the case, but the roller coaster ride that is A-Rod’s career has been, well, bumpy since January of 2013.   

Over the last calender year, per the New York Post, Rodriguez has been implicated in the Biogenesis scandal, feuded with his own organization over an injury comeback, been hit with a 212-game suspension, denied using any performance-enhancing drugs during the period in question, called out Bud Selig, granted arbitration, had his suspension reduced to 162 games and sued both the MLBPA and MLB.

When Rodriguez’s lawyers dismissed the latest lawsuit in a year full of embarrassment, they did nothing but spare litigators time, effort and money. 

The irreparable damage was already done.

Agree? Disagree?

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk about all things baseball. 

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In most years, the free-agent market would be barren in early February. Roster upgrades would be difficult to find, leaving general managers scouring for low-risk, high-reward options to augment their respective rosters.

This year is different.

With pitchers and catchers reporting over the next week, an abundance of talent is still available on the free-agent market. Sure, the Masahiro Tanakas and Robinson Canos of the world are long gone. That doesn’t mean difference-making players aren’t available.

Between now and March 31—or March 22 and 23 in the case of the Dodgers and Diamondbacks—moves will be made before the season begins. 

The following five teams will all fill holes, add impact players and change their respective outlooks for the 2014 season.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

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In baseball terms, “file and trial” is a way of describing teams willing to go through the arbitration-hearing process with their young, ascending talents. With salary numbers exchanged, the real fun begins for the players still without a final salary for the 2014 MLB season.

As the season approaches, the following players have one more hurdle to clear before workouts, exhibition games and preparation for the 2014 season can commence: a battle for salary against their employers.

Over the years, arbitration wars have turned ugly, souring the relationship between team, agent and player.

The following stars are all on the path to arbitration hearings. When the dust settles, salary will be determined for 2014, but an uncertain future could present itself along the way.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Arbitration numbers and projections courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors.

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When the Phillies and Yankees arrive for full-squad workouts in Clearwater and Tampa, Fla., respectively, a fountain of youth will be as necessary as cleats, gloves and bats.

Heading into the 2014 season, both the Phillies and Yankees are really, really old. The 2009 World Series combatants are five years removed from a date in late October, but it feels like an eternity since the two heavy-spending franchises had prime-aged stars to deliver postseason success.

In reality, both teams should be concerned with age, injuries and ineffectiveness in 2014. Yet, of the two, the Phillies’ issues and risks stands out.

According to MLB Depth Charts’ projected rosters, Philadelphia is poised to field an everyday lineup with an average age of 31.1. In New York, that number is 33.5. Those numbers, taken on the surface, give an edge to Philadelphia and place an aura of youth around one of these two aging teams. Yet, as we’ll get to below, the numbers can be deceiving. 

The respective starting rotations both skew over age 30 for an average number, but this time, Philadelphia projects as the more grizzled group. In fact, if the Yankees award their fifth-starter role to 25-year-old Michael Pineda, a former top rookie with the Seattle Mariners, the group would project to an average age of 29.6.

While that’s far from young, it represents progress for an aging team.

Before spending the rest of this column underscoring why the Phillies are in so much trouble in 2014, let’s acknowledge the issues in New York.

After spending over $500 million on talent this winter, the Yankees aren’t a finished product, the best team in their own division or a lock for the postseason. If that isn’t eye-opening enough, consider this: Despite losing both 44-year-old Mariano Rivera and 41-year-old Andy Pettitte to retirement, the Yankees head into 2014 as an older baseball team.

As Joel Sherman of the New York Post pointed out, not one member of New York’s starting lineup will be under age 30 when the season begins.

In a division that includes the defending champion Red Sox, the young, smart, evolving Rays, talent-rich Orioles and bounce-back candidate in the Blue Jays, the recipe for disappointment is prevalent in the Bronx.

The Yankees have issues, but the Phillies are in crisis mode. 

Here’s why: New York, despite its age, restocked the franchise with prime-age stars, hoping their star-level can elevate the rest of an over-the-hill roster. 

By acquiring Jacoby Ellsbury (30), Brian McCann (29) and Masahiro Tanaka (25), the Yankees committed roughly $60.1 million, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, to three potential All-Stars in 2014. Those players, unlike supplementary pieces added in Philadelphia, are expected to carry older Yankees through transition years.

If Derek Jeter stumbles in his age-40 season or Mark Teixeira can’t rebound from wrist surgery in his mid-30s, the new Yankees are in tow to pick up the slack. 

Yes, the Phillies can boast three projected starters—Cody Asche, Domonic Brown and Ben Revere—under age 30, something the Yankees can only dream of with the roster construction. As Jerry Crasnick of ESPN put it, Asche, Brown and Revere are the only three Phillies starters born after the 1970s. 

Outside of Brown’s All-Star appearance serving as the potential for bigger things in 2014, the Phillies are still relying on a core that has seen its time come and go.

The following chart illustrates the problem in Philadelphia. A franchise once built upon a relentless, bludgeoning offensive attack has been rendered meek. 

Instead of retooling with new, late-20s or early-30s stars to refuel the attack, Philadelphia has added age and banked on returns to health from aging former stars like Ryan Howard. 

Marlon Byrd, one of general manager Ruben Amaro’s major moves this winter, will be a 36-year-old outfielder in 2014. For most teams, handing a player like that a multiyear deal would be foolhardy. For the Phillies, it was a priority. 

Showing how seamlessly he’ll fit into the culture at Citizens Bank Park, Byrd spoke about the misconception around age with Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly.

“All of us do. You keep hearing old, old, old … we’re not an old team,” Byrd said. “We can still play. Once you can’t play, then you’re old. We still have a lot in the tank, we just to have to show that and stay healthy.”

Judging by the chart above, Byrd’s assertion is wrong. While he had an excellent bounce-back season last year at age 35, the core of the Phillies still can’t play. Or, at the very least, can’t play at the level it once did. 

Of course, not all of Philadelphia’s successful teams led the league in OPS. In 2011, the franchise won 102 games on the strength of pitching and a mediocre offensive attack. Led by Cliff Lee (35) and Cole Hamels (30), the front of the rotation is still outstanding, but the back—Kyle Kendrick, Miguel Gonzalez, Roberto Hernandez—leaves something to be desired.

According to Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News, the Phillies rotation pitched to a 5.31 ERA in 66 games after the All-Star break last summer. 

In order for an above-average staff to emerge, Lee and Hamels will have to pitch like they are each in their 20s. During a primer on the Phillies’ season for CSN, Jim Salisbury raised the following point, likely sending chills down the spine of Phillies fans: 

“Want to feel old? Hamels turned 30 last month. And though he’s still younger than many of his teammates, he knows his baseball clock is ticking.”

If Hamels’ clock is ticking, the franchise is running out of time to compete. 

When Jesse Spector of Sporting News made his picks for 2014, he picked the Phillies to finish dead last in the NL East. That sentiment, while extreme, could be echoed by other voices that cover the sport on a national level.

In New York, despite the aforementioned issues, expect more postseason predictions than last-place proclamations from the media.

While it wouldn’t be a shock to see both New York and Philadelphia on the outside of the postseason picture, the more dire situation is emerging within the Phillies organization. The team is old, added players with little left in the tank and could be worse than the 73-win outfit of last season.

It’s too early to raise the white flag, but dark clouds are hanging over a Phillies team that still believes it can compete.

Agree? Disagree?

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk all things baseball. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In the aftermath of significant, life-threatening head injuries suffered by pitchers, MLB has informed its 30 clubs that padded caps have been approved to provide some head protection against line drives flying back at the mound.

According to ESPN’s Outside the Lines, a product, with help from the Players Association, has been launched with the purpose of protecting pitchers. 

Now, a new task emerges for the sport: Convincing pitchers to wear the product on a daily basis.

The announcement, although exciting and important, is just the first step. 

Dan Halem, MLB executive vice president for labor relations, was ecstatic about the potential for safety and future growth of the technology.

“We’re excited to have a product that meets our safety criteria,” Halem told Outside the Lines, adding that baseball will continue its efforts to come up with more options. “MLB is committed to working with manufacturers to develop products that offer maximum protection to our players, and we’re not stopping at all.”

Per the OTL piece, five pitchers—Oakland’s Brandon McCarthy, Houston’s Mickey Storey, Detroit’s Doug Fister, Toronto’s J.A. Happ and Tampa Bay’s Alex Cobb—were hit in the head with batted balls between Sept. 5, 2012 and June 15, 2013.  

In the span of less than one year, five pitchers, including Fister on the World Series stage, had their lives hang in the balance when a baseball came careening at them, affording even top-tier athletes little time to move out of the way.

While the rash of pitcher injuries grew in a quick span, the issue for Major League Baseball has been around for years. From San Diego’s Chris Young to Houston’s Billy Wagner to Boston’s Bryce Florie, the sight of a bloodied, dazed pitcher walking off the mound is all too familiar to baseball fans.

Unfortunately, the names listed above and video evidence of unsightly and grotesque injuries won’t change the mindset of some pitchers.

Amazingly, despite falling victim to one of the most famous incidents in the history of batted-ball injuries, Brandon McCarthy didn’t react positively to the new technology. As he told Jayson Stark of ESPN, the new cap is “too big” and doesn’t “pass the eye test.” 

In sports, comfort trumps safety. For an athlete to perform best, mental and physical comfort is a necessity. In the NFL, it’s routine to see skill players (wide receivers, running backs, defensive backs) eschew standard padding for more comfort and the perceived ability to move more fluidly.

The new caps, per OTL, will have seven ounces of weight more than the prior, non-padded cap. That may seem like a small amount for peace of mind, but could be looked at as another obstacle or distraction in a craft that desperately attempts to simplify things. 

While some pitchers will adopt and adapt early in the name of safety, not everyone will be willing to go the extra mile for peace of mind.

Alex Cobb, one of the recent line-drive victims, spoke about his incident as a “pink elephant” (video below, per MLB.com) and references the need to put worry and fear out of sight and out of mind. If that mindset is prevalent among pitchers with a past injury, they may not want to be reminded of it every time they put on their cap. 

Comfort issues can be overcome, but knowing that protective head gear is in the cap could lead pitchers to thinking about the possibility of being struck. If that thought process begins, it’s unlikely many pitchers would jump at the chance to wear the new technology.

When asked by OTL if he would wear the cap, J.A. Happ, despite his recent injury, wasn’t sure due to the feel and comfort.

“I’d have to see what the differences in feel would be. Does it feel close enough to a regular cap? You don’t want to be out there thinking about it and have it take away from your focus on what you’re doing.”

Furthermore, if the cap looks different or fits atop a pitchers head strangely, jokes will ensue. In 2009, on the path back from a concussion, New York Mets third baseman David Wright wore a new helmet designed to keep him safe in the event of another erratic pitch striking him in the head. 

When he took the field looking like a bobble-head, the commentary and comedic banter commenced among the media and fans.

Although the new, padded cap will be bigger in weight, it won’t be a gigantic version of the old caps, thus a David Wright situation is unlikely to occur. Still, some players won’t be receptive for reasons of comfort or the inability to block out why a padded cap is necessary.  

In time, the sport could consider making the new equipment mandatory, but until then it’s impossible to predict how many pitchers will actually wear the new gear. Hopefully, protected or not, baseball doesn’t go through another year of scary moments on the mound.

Yet, as morbid as it may sound, one of the only ways for the message to get across is more instances of injury to pitchers during game action.

This announcement is a major step for the long-term safety of pitchers, but it’s only one step. The key will be in convincing pitchers of how important the new technology may be in saving careers and lives.  

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk all things baseball. 

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If Alex Rodriguez truly plans to continue his professional baseball career in 2015, he’ll be up against a new adversary: fellow Major League Baseball players.

The MLB Players Association, one of the strongest and tightest unions in the country, has had enough of Rodriguez. According to a scathing report by Jeff Passan and Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports, the MLBPA would kick him out of the union if they could.

During a 90-minute conference call on the day Rodriguez sued the MLBPA—in an attempt to reverse his suspension—player representatives agreed that their member isn’t welcome any longer.

This revelation is shocking, but hardly surprising, considering the relationships baseball fans have watched Rodriguez burn to the ground during his headline-rich tenure atop Major League Baseball.

After receiving a 211-game suspension for performance-enhancing drug use—reduced to a 162-game ban by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz—the embattled former three-time AL MVP officially alienated the powers that govern Major League Baseball.

Years prior, Rodriguez pushed away fans when signing a $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers, leaving behind the Seattle Mariners, his youth and the city that watched him grow from heralded prospect to the best all-around player in the world.

Within time, New York Yankees fans, despite two American League MVP awards and a World Series championship during his reign in the Bronx, came to wish Rodriguez never arrived. When Rodriguez’s first tryst with PEDs came to light during the early portion of 2009, the damage inflicted within the Yankees front office was irreparable. 

Off the field, Rodriguez lost his wife, pushed away the player he called a best friend, separated from the agent that helped make him one of the wealthiest athletes in the world and, most recently, engaged in an all-out attack on his former nutrition coach—or drug dealer, if you prefer—Tony Bosch.  

It’s Alex Rodriguez’s world, and he’s the only one living in it.

Unfortunately for the embattled A-Rod, the MLBPA revelation is far from a non-story or faint hope from disgruntled union members. Instead, it’s shaped like an edict from a group of fellow players that are incensed by Rodriguez’s lawsuit against them in the aftermath of Horowitz’s decision.

By suing the MLBPA—even if it’s a reasonable legal strategy—Rodriguez turned his back on the one group that has supported him from the start.

When Rodriguez chose to fight the 211-game suspension in August, the MLBPA backed his decision.

Throughout the process, he used the MLBPA’s collectively bargained rights to his advantage, manipulated the process in order to play the remainder of the 2013 season and put his teammates in an awkward position.

Now, if Rodriguez does return to the game in 2015, he’ll do so without anyone on his side, supporting him or willing to give him another chance. If that wasn’t enough, the anger he’ll encounter may not live below the surface for very long. When his career resumes, players, led by new union chief Tony Clark, will be vocal.

If that’s the worst A-Rod endures, he’ll likely survive the way he has in the face of other loss, personal rejection and professional embarrassment. However, that might not be the worst the soon-to-be 39-year-old faces.

As a player on the MLBPA conference call said, per Passan and Brown’s report, “When he gets up to bat, you can hit him and hit him hard. That’s what I’d do. He sued us. Jhonny Peralta and Nelson Cruz screwed up. You know what? They owned up to it. They took their medicine.”

The sad part, among many depressing subplots to Rodriguez’s career plight, is that he’s most happy on a baseball field, in a dugout and surrounded by fellow players. As strange as it may seem, Rodriguez genuinely loves the game of baseball, talking shop and used the diamond as a sanctuary to insulate himself from the distractions of fame, fortune or the latest controversy.

Now, that controversy will invade and attempt to take away the only place Alex Rodriguez has ever seemed comfortable: the field.

If an angry lynch mob of fellow players chooses to shun Rodriguez, retaliate or make him feel unwanted—even if he has insight to share with young, rising players—it could be too much to take for a comeback to reach its potential in 2015 and beyond.

Make no mistake: Alex Rodriguez will do everything in his power to come back and play Major League Baseball in 2015.

That doesn’t mean he’ll be successful in his quest. If the Yankees write him a $61 million check to disappear, teams could collude to keep him away. Without the MLBPA to rally and support his cause, a comeback attempt could fall flat.

Even if Rodriguez surfaces next spring, an awkward and sad scene could eventually emerge in a baseball facility somewhere in Arizona or Florida: Alex Rodriguez, all alone, hitting off a tee and into an empty field. When he turns around to banter about the hit and run or how to attack Masahiro Tanaka’s splitter, no one will entertain the conversation.

By then, the joy of the game could dissipate. If that’s accompanied by a fastball to the ribs, A-Rod could ultimately opt out of the game he loves.

It’s unlikely that Rodriguez is scared away from baseball forever, but if he does make it back after a one-year suspension, he’ll be fighting the past, fans, media and his brethren.

Do you know anyone that still supports Alex Rodriguez?

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