Spring Training Roster, Korea Questions, a Big Thank You & More

Less than a month 'til games...

Spring Training Roster Released

Earlier this afternoon, the Padres officially released their non-roster invitees to Spring Training:

If you follow the farm system even a little bit, you’ll certainly recognize some serious prospect names on this list (Salas, Merrill, Snelling, Thorpe, Mazur, Pauley, and Marsee are all Top-13 in the system), which will make these Cactus League games that much more interesting.

The Padres let us know that of the 32, 15 are Minor League free agents who are new to the organization and 14 were originally signed or drafted by the Padres.

If you are a regular listener or viewer of Spring Training broadcasts, many of these names will become quite familiar to you by the middle of March. Definitely one of my favorite parts of the gig is getting to dive into these new guys as they try and make names for themselves each Spring.

Korea Questions

Not going to do a full Q&A this week, but I recently received this question from Mitch K., which I think is worth diving into a little bit:

I do understand that MLB is always trying to grow its brand here in the US and around the world.  I assume this is why MLB games have been in Mexico, Japan, and this year, Korea.  This year, Spring Training is going to be pretty quick for the Padres and Dodgers.  I’d assume that the pitchers are going to need to be ready to go this season sooner than other seasons, and rosters are going to be needed to be decided upon pretty quickly.

With a sped up Spring Training and teams being out of their normal routine, how do the players and coaches feel about playing these international games?  Do you hear if the players and coaches enjoy last year’s Mexico trip? (I know the fans did).  Do you hear if the players and coaches are looking forward to going to Korea to play?

I know you can’t speak for the players and coaches but maybe you can share what you have heard.

As I said, a lot of good stuff here, so I’ll answer best I can.

Let’s start with the spring schedule. With the Padres (and Dodgers) starting the season a bit early, they’re also opening camp a couple of days (give or take) earlier than the other teams. So that’s one thing.

And now this is where I say one of the quiet parts out loud: there are many, many people in baseball who think that Spring Training is longer than it needs to be. Now, there are good reasons why it’s as long as it is, but in this day and age, with throwing programs as dialed in as they are throughout the off-season, guys are able to get ready on this kind of schedule with ease. Add in that none of this is a surprise, so pitchers for these teams have theoretically scheduled their entire winters around the earlier start to the season. I see it as a non-issue.

Beyond that, I’ll remind you, that it’s been since…I guess 2019…that there’s been a fully “normal” Spring Training. In 2020, of course, COVID threw everything for a loop. In ‘21, many of the pandemic-related restrictions and oddities still applied. In 2022, there was a lockout that delayed the start of Spring Training and then last year we had the World Baseball Classic.

As for the players and coaches feelings, like you said, I can’t speak for them, but I will say it seemed like everyone had a blast in Mexico City last year. It was just a fun experience all the way around. Traveling to Seoul is obviously a bit more complicated than to CDMX, but we’ll have more time there to help with the transition. The reality, too, is that these international series are all part of the CBA, so it’s something the Players Association has agreed to and I would imagine there are reasons for them to do so beyond just everyone’s desire to grow the game on a global scale.

There’s no doubt there are logistical complications for all of these things (blessings on TJ and crew), but I have no doubt most people involved understand the big picture. And it’s pretty clear there will be more events like this in the future, as well.

Big Thank You

Dennis Lin of The Athletic recently posted his annual fan survey and while there’s plenty of things to look at and break down there, I just wanted to thank everyone who showed what I consider to be absurd support for our broadcast.

I obviously take great pride in the work that we do, but having like 90% of you thinking we do good work is hard to comprehend. This job is almost by definition a polarizing one and so to see that kind of number really made me feel some kind of way.

I am wildly uncomfortable with self-promotion, but I did want to be sure to formally thank everyone who participated. This means an awful lot. As I’ve written before, being a Major League announcer has been a dream and a goal literally since like second or third grade and as I approach my 42nd birthday, it’s still a pinch-me sort of thing. And then to be able to work for this team in this community at this time and with these colleagues…it’s just so far beyond my wildest dreams. Thank you to everyone who listens, it means so much. Can’t wait for 2/22 in Peoria to be back on the air with the best broadcast partner imaginable.

Also! While Tony and Jesse may be the voices you hear, special salute to Dave Marcus, whose technical wizardry is the only reason you can hear us at all.

Speaking of Broadcasting

Not baseball related, but a really fun piece from Richard Deitsch, also of The Athletic, on some of the behind-the-scenes folks who work stats on the CBS NFL crew that will call the upcoming Super Bowl.

I often mention how amazed I am by the number of people it takes to put together a sports telecast, and it was nice to see some of the more unsung folks get this kind of recognition.

If you’re into geeky stats and/or curious about how games get produced, it’s a definite must-read.

Giveaways!

Earlier this week, the Padres announced their 2024 promotional schedule. To say there’s something for everyone would probably barely begin to describe it. The quality of these items is at an all-time high and the video they produced for the announcement matches that quality. If you’ve somehow missed it, enjoy! Shout out to the many, many people who worked on that.

Uni-Note

As I’ve mentioned many, many times, I am a huge uniform/logo geek. And this time of year is fun as a lot of teams start to release or leak out changes for the upcoming season.

One team making some fairly notable changes this year is the Washington Nationals. They have a brand new design to their road uniform, but that’s not what I want to talk about.

The Nats, you see, have added a home alternate jersey that is…a pullover. Unofficial research suggests that you have to go all the way back to 1992 (CIN) for the last time a Major League team wore a non-throwback pullover jersey. 1992!!

Start of a trend? Or just a blip? Time will tell. I love it, though.

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Alrighty, I think that’s that for this newsletter…we’ll be out in Peoria before we know it and then the real fun can begin. Hope everyone has a great weekend and let’s talk again soon..

jesse