The 2022 Futures Game is finally here and will be held tonight. The seven-inning American vs. National League game will take place at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, July 16 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. It will be broadcast live on Peacock and SiriusXM, with MLB Network producing the telecast and re-airing the game at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday. Scott Braun, Yonder Alonso, Jim Callis, and A.J. Andrews will call the game.
In case you have forgotten, the Dodgers have three players on the NL team:
- C Diego Cartaya (No. 1/MLB No. 14),
- RHP Bobby Miller (No. 2/MLB No. 27), 3B/2B/
- 3B/LF Miguel Vargas (No. 5/MLB No. 72)
Mike Scioscia will be the NL Manager, while Jimmy Rollins will manage the AL team. It’s only appropriate that the Dodger’s #1 prospect, Diego Cartaya, gets his interview with me aired today:
Future Dodgers Down on the Farm
- OKC lost 7-3
- Jason Martin was 1-4 with a 2-run HR
- Jacob Amaya was 2-4
- Tulsa won 6-4
- Jonny DeLuca was 2-5 (.310 BA/.984 OPS) with a triple
- Ryan Ward was 2-4 with 3 RBI and his 21st HR
- Clayton Beeter: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K 4.79 ERA
- Great Lakes was rained out
- Rancho Cucamonga scored a run in the bottom of the 9th to win 15-14
- Luis Diaz, who had three hits and five RBIs on the night, legged out a two-out infield single with the bases loaded, giving the Quakes their second straight win over the Grizzlies and the third in four games over Fresno this week.
- Damon Keith had four RBIs, and Jake Vogel had four hits (Vogel is hitting .252 now after a poor start)
None of the three Future Games Participants were active last night.
There Was a Dodger Game Last Night
Not much to report… the Dodgers scored nine runs, and Clayton Kershaw had a perfect game through 7 innings, but that was about it. Will Smith is smoking hot after going 4-4. Clayton Kershaw is a few innings short of qualifying for the ERA Title, but here’s where the Dodgers starting pitchers rank in the NL in ERA:
2. Tony Gonsolin – 2.02/ 11-0
4. Clayton Kershaw – 2.13/ 7-2
13. Tyler Anderson – 2.96/10-1
15. Julio Urias – 3.01/7-6
That ain’t too shabby, and Andrew Heaney will allegedly be back in a week or two. In the next 30-45 days, the Dodgers will “trade” for a couple more pitchers, like Tommy Kahnle, Brusdar Graterol, Blake Treinen, Victor Gonzalez, Danny Duffy, Jake Reed, Hansel Robles, Ryan Pepiot, and maybe Walker Buehler.
Look for Miguel Vargas to get the call with the next IL stint. Andre Jackson is most likely to be DFA’ed!
Great interview Mark. Diego speaks English so fluently and is very articulate and so mature at such a young age. That smile of his will play big with the ladies in LA and maybe someday be the face of the franchise. Can’t wait to see him in Dodger Stadium catching and moving Will to 3rd base. The Dodger system is loaded with talent as they continue to draft and develop quality individuals. Lots to look forward to.
Will Smith is still progressing though. So it might not be a given. I sure am glad Kershaw pitches for my team…….still!
If Will didn’t have to catch, he may be even better offensively!
Still, Diego is not a prototype catcher either – He’s 6′ 3″ and thin… albeit cat-quick!
Sal Perez is 6′ 3″ and has been a All Star catcher for 13 years and hitting 48 homeruns at age 31 last year. MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis likened Dodgers catching prospect Diego. to Salvador Perez because of his size and profile,
Perez is built like a lineman at 260 lbs. while Diego is 50 pounds lighter and built like a wide receiver.
As he ages ,the pounds come easier as we all know. He should borrow some pounds from Reyes Moronta. Reyes definitely needs to hit the salad bar.
Having a big bat at catcher is such an advantage over almost every team in baseball. Keep em coming AF!
Hmm. I wonder how Will’s stats as a catcher compare to his stats as DH….
Cartaya is still young and likely to fill out a bit. Come to think, Smith came back to spring training a couple years back with extra muscle.
Oh, in other news…. something from ESPN…
Breaking: The Washington Nationals are open to hearing trade offers for Juan Soto after the star turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer that would have been the largest contract in baseball history, according to a report in The Athletic.
Some Nationals officials no longer believe they will be able to reach any long-term deal with Soto.
MLB Makes Counterproposal To MLBPA On International Draft
By Anthony Franco | July 15, 2022 at 10:08pm CDT
10:08pm: In a follow-up piece, Drellich and Rosenthal report a host of additional specifics on each side’s proposals to date. Among the most notable aspects under consideration: the union has proposed to extend the posting window for players coming from Asian professional leagues from the current 30 days to 45 days. Both sides are also proposing the creation of prospect leagues to operate in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela (contingent on U.S. government regulations in the latter nation). MLB’s proposed draft would begin in 2024, while the union has offered to start at some point later in 2023.
Under the MLBPA proposal, teams would be unable to sign players for below slot value but would have the discretion to go above slot. That addresses any concerns the union would’ve had about teams not spending at least their minimum bonus pool. The league’s hard-slotted proposal would prevent teams from going over the allotment, capping overall spending while eliminating the cutting of pre-draft deals.
The Athletic’s piece is worth a read for many more details for those interested in the subject.
9:05pm: Major League Baseball made its latest counterproposal to the Players Association as the sides negotiate the possibility of a draft for international amateurs, report Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. It’s the league’s response to an offer put forth by the MLBPA last week. For the first time, the union showed a willingness to implement an international draft but only with certain conditions such as a higher bonus pool and the exemption of players from Japan.
The league’s proposal calls for a $181MM signing bonus pool for drafted players, according to the Athletic. That’s the same as the league’s previous offer, while Drellich and Rosenthal note the union has been seeking a $260MM pool. There is also a gap between the parties on the maximum signing bonus that would be available for undrafted players. The league is proposing a $20K cap, while the union’s proposal called for a $40K limit.
Additionally, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN reports there’s a discrepancy in slotting between the two sides. MLB is proposing fixed, hard-slotted bonuses for players depending on with which pick they’re selected. That’d differ from the domestic amateur draft, which features a set overall pool of money teams are freely allowed to spread around to draftees. The domestic draft comes with recommended slot values per pick, but teams can and do ignore those recommendations to pay certain players overslot while cutting below-slot deals with other selections. (Teams are permitted to exceed their bonus pool in the domestic draft, but doing so by more than 5% comes with future pick forfeitures no club has been willing to take on). The union, according to Gonzalez, is pushing for a similar soft-slotting system in the international draft.
Of course, the prospects involved are not perfectly analogous. International players would likely be draft-eligible at age-16, while domestic draft prospects must have graduated high school. Domestically, many high school prospects have the ability to play at a major college if they don’t sign with their drafting team. In contrast, most international amateurs won’t have that fallback.
Hard-slotting would keep teams from not offering to spend their entire allotment to take advantage of the players’ comparative lack of leverage, and it’d eliminate the possibility for teams to cut pre-draft deals with prospects. Yet it’d also reduce the ability to go over-slot for top players in the class. The league’s proposals during negotiations in March came with a $5.5125MM value for the first overall pick, for instance. The #1 pick in the 2022 domestic draft comes with an $8.842MM slot value, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com. Last year’s top selection, Henry Davis, signed for $6.5MM.
The union’s desired bonus pool would close the gap between the slot values of the selections between the international and domestic drafts. According to Gonzalez, MLB counters their proposed bonus pool would pay international players $23MM more collectively than what they received during the 2020-21 signing period, making it an economic improvement over the status quo. Of course, one of the trade-offs would be the forfeiture of players’ abilities to choose their first employer. If no draft is agreed upon, the existing system would remain in place. That features hard-capped bonus pools to limit overall team spending, but players are permitted to negotiate with all 30 clubs.
Gonzalez reports some movement the league made in more minor areas than the overall bonus allotment. The league has withdrawn its push for a mandatory one-year suspension for prospects who test positive for performance-enhancing drugs. MLB also proposed that any prospect who submitted a pre-draft physical would have to be offered the full slot value of their selection. Both sides are in agreement that a draft, if implemented, would last 20 rounds.
The parties have until July 25 to come to an agreement, with the draft likely to go into effect in 2024 if implemented. If a draft is agreed upon, the qualifying offer system would be removed, and teams would no longer have to forfeit selections for signing free agents.
Both Tony and Kersh have that one bad outing of giving up 5 or 6 runs, or else their ERA would be a lot lower. Ok perhaps other pitchers can say the same. But anyway, its pretty amazing -Near perfection in almost every game.
Great Interview. What a humble young man. I can’t wait to see him in the bigs.
What’s going on with Jason Martin, and what does he have to do to get a cup of coffee? 19 Bombs!
What the hell happened to Josh Hader? He didn’t allow a run for the first two months of the season. Now, he’s worse than Kimbrel!
Kershaw is having quite a resurgence this year. Amazing and so fun to watch. Everything was painted on the edges last night.
Julio is on the hill tonight. With the win, the Dodgers will enter the All-Star break with 60 wins, second to the Yankees in all of baseball. Also with the win, the Dodgers will be at most, just 2.5 games behind them in the standings.
Great interview Mark. It’s so great to put a face with a name. Seems like a very solid kid. It will be fun to see his progression. Do you think 24 is his year? What a performance by Kersh last night and some great D behind him. The Angels D was very much lacking in comparison. Kersh’s velo on his fastball steady at 92 and he had great command of it. But he seems much more confident in his curve this year and throwing it for strikes. That’s the big difference that I see this year compared to the last couple of years. And the results are awesome. If only he didn’t have to pitch in Colorado! How can you not give the starting nod to him on Tuesday!
1). Don’t for get Dustin May as a possible trade acquisition in the next month or so!!
2). Seems Jake Vogel has figured things out?
3). Anyone going to the Futures Game tonight? Let’s meet up and grab a drink! Or, for that matter, I”ll be there Monday and Tuesday as well, so we have opportunities for drinks.
Always high on Vogel
Good to See Him Start hitting
Go Dodgers!
Great interview. Diego is a great kid. His maturity is off the charts and his ascendency in the organization seems to be well ahead of schedule. He lived with Travis Barbary and his family in South Carolina for a spell and he couldn’t have picked a greater mentor. Wouldn’t it be something if he one day played for Travis on the Major League level?
Fun game to watch. I absolutely love watching Kersh work. Watching Freeman hit every day is pretty cool too. Now Bellinger needs to sit down with Freddie and understand you do not have to come out of your shoes swinging to hit homers and be productive.
Juan Soto has now rejected a Nats offer of 15 years, 440 million (which is just under 30 mil/year).
The Nats are now listening to offers.
Anybody here like to suggest an offer, or do we hold our ammunition and $ for Trea or Ohtani?
Soto has two years of control remaining after this year.
No interest in Soto at anything close that price.
But I think the news is interesting in how it may put a bit more pressure on Arte Moreno and Shohei to consider their respective options.
The Dodgers have to be intrigued by Ohtani… and why wouldn’t he be intrigued by the Dodgers? What’s not to like? And it’s not hard to imagine Moreno or his GM Minnasian pondering what kind of haul they could get while keeping their payroll under control.
Does Martin get the call up or is he traded?
Tyler Anderson was named an All-Star for the National League as an alternate.His incredible season is rewarded. So the Dodgers have five All-Stars.
Ken Rosenthal
@Ken_Rosenthal
BREAKING: Juan Soto rejects $440M offer. Nationals will now entertain trading him.
Good for him.
Does this mean that Will Smith has been passed over?
I’m fine with that if it motivates him the way Freddie seems motivated.
My read on Martin is he is a lefty bat, can play left and center, but not on the 40 man roster. So it appears he is blocked by Lamb and Lux (a lefty bat). So if either Lamb or possibly Thompson slow down or get injured there is not space for him right now. Hopefully he keeps it up and forces his way to the majors before or at September call ups.
Nationals To Entertain Trade Offers For Juan Soto After He Rejects $440MM Offer
By TC Zencka | July 16, 2022 at 11:21am CDT
In a somewhat shocking development, the Washington Nationals will now listen to trade offers for transcendent superstar Juan Soto, per the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Soto reportedly rejected a $440MM extension offer, prompting the change of heart o the Nationals’ part.
The Nationals have long held the position that they would not be open to trading Soto, their 23-year-old superstar, who is already firmly listed among the best hitters in baseball. The Nationals have some time to make a decision, as Soto is under team control for another two seasons beyond this one. As of right now, however, the team is among the worst in baseball, and their farm system continues to be understocked.
All that said, the Nats have made consistent efforts to come to a contract extension with Soto’s agent Scott Boras, with no success. According to Rosenthal, the latest such offer – the third offer from the Nationals’ side – was for 15 years and a total of $440MM. Perhaps more shocking than the number itself is that the Nats did not include any deferred money in the deal. The Nationals are well known for deferring money in most of their long-term deals. That they were willing to avoid that practice shows some bend on the Nats’ part, but it was not enough to consummate a deal.
If those numbers are correct, the Nats’ offer would have given Soto an AAV of $29.33MM over that 15-year span, which falls a little shy of some of the game’s top contracts. While that’s nothing to scoff at, it would not be a record-setting number. The total dollar amount would, however, top MLB’s largest contracts.
The deal would have carried Soto through to his 38th birthday, effectively locking him in as a National for the entirety of his career. It’s certainly a large chunk of money to offer, but Soto might not be so ready to put a cap on his career earnings – even such a lofty one. Soto is currently making $17.1MM this season, with another two arbitration raises yet to come in his final two seasons. If he stays healthy, he’ll easily make more than $29.33MM AAV by his final season before free agency.
With their latest offer rejected, the Nats will now spend the next couple of weeks listening to trade offers for Soto ahead of the August 2nd trade deadline. Certainly, given the team control remaining, the Nationals would have to be floored by an offer in order to move him. The likelihood of a deal at this juncture still feels slim. An offseason deal is more likely. Still, interested parties now have a couple of weeks to begin making headway.
What’s Trea and Otani worth in free agency?
That’s a $300 million plus question for one and $400-milion plus for the other…. .Of course, it also depends on the length of contract. ( Shohei could command record $50 million AAV. Seriously, does $300 million for six years seem unreasonable compared to what some players are getting? )
Tyler Anderson was named an All-Star for the National League as an alternate His incredible season is rewarded. So the Dodgers have five All-Stars.
Now just waiting for Freeman and Will Smith to somehow get in!
Would be nice and certainly justified.
Great interview Mark!
Last nights game was fantastic.
Kershaw was fabulous, and took another run at a perfect game. As good as he was last night, he was even better in Minnesota early this year. We are lucky to get to watch Clayton pitch in his prime.
Whether he continues for 5 more years or this is his last year, every start is a must watch for me.
Let’s appreciate the greatness of Kershaw while he is still here!
Si, ojalá Poli se lo merecen, han notado ustedes que los jugadores convocados al juego de estrellas de los Asteriscos de Houston de la serie mundial de 2017 han estado renunciando para asistir a Los Ángeles esgrimiendo cualquier pretexto ( lesión ), evidentemente saben que serán abucheados por la fanaticada.
What a treat to watch CK at his best. And the great defense behind him.
With Phil Cuzzi behind the plate tonight, hopefully Urias will have a less frustrating evening.. Cuzzi has a bigger, more pitcher friendly zone, typically, then Julio got last outing where he became frustrated with Chris Guccione behind the dish..
I would Not Trade for Soto.
He would Cost the Farm e.g. Cartaya, Miller, pepiot , Pages to Start with
Better wait for Ohtani and Keep Our Kids
Go Dodgers!
150% Agree!
Gut the farm for the privilege of inheriting a Scott Bora$$ headache in a couple of years? I’ll pass on that.
Not a bad tactical move by the Nats. Call Bora$$’s bluff. They know no MLB team is going to want to denude their farm just to inherit the predicament the Nats currently have.
That’s what I was thinking.
1) I wouldn’t trade for Soto or Ohtani. Too costly of a trade.
2) I’m surprised that some here think Kershaw is at the end of his career. I think he has at least 2 more years in him. He’s only 34.
3) To me the all star game is overrated. The fans for the most part choose who makes the team. It’s not all (although it is mostly) based on player results, but not all. How does Travis d’Arnaud beat out Will Smith for a spot on the all star team with a .775 OPS and Smith has a .854 OPS? How does Alonso beat Freeman, what because he has more home runs? Freeman has a way better slash line.
Los Angeles Dodgers
@Dodgers
Your NL starting pitcher for the Future’s Game ,Bobby Miller
10:07 PM ETR
Dodgers (59-30)
Angels (39-52)
Confirmed Lineup
SP Julio Urias L
7-6 3.01 ERA 89.2IP 86K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
SS Trea Turner R
1B F. Freeman L
C W, Smith R
DH J. Turner R
3B Max Muncy L
LF T. Thompson R
CF C. Bellinger L
2B Gavin Lux L
Clear-day
0% Rain
74° Wind 7 mph Out
7PM ET
Tonight’s Future Game’s National League Starting Lineup
NATIONAL LEAGUE
1 Corbin Carroll, CF, ARI
2 Robert Hassell III, RF, SD
3 Francisco Álvarez, DH, NYM
4 Jordan Walker, 3B, STL
5 Miguel Vargas, 2B, LAD
6 Zac Veen, LF, COL
7 Mark Vientos, 1B, NYM
8 Masyn Winn, SS, STL
9 Diego Cartaya, C, LAD
P Bobby Miller, RHP, LAD
Finally got to the interview. Cartaya seems like a great guy.
I don’t like the “untouchable” label, but it might fit Cartaya.. The fact that he was behind Keibert is a big reason why Keibert would be traded to the Nationals. Just remembered AF also included catcher Conner Wong in the Betts deal–and think he reached ML level before Jeter Downs recently came up. (Downs and Verdugo teamed up on a recent Sox comeback victory.)
Nice to have all this depth at catcher.
And the Angels will be needing a new backup for Stassi….
Would you trade Mookie as the major piece in a Soto trade? The Nats aren’t a poor team. Mookie would give them a cornerstone to build around and his deal is set in stone. He has no choice but to stay? Soto has 2 and half years before Boros can pressure him into a big money deal to play for a loser, like Corey Seager. We might have to include a prospect or two to go along with the deal.
It would allow us to get out of Mookie’s ugly years at the end.
Now that you are at it, go ahead and trade CKershaw also.
Hmmm, haven’t thought of that. Do you think you can get a younger, more reliable and better pitcher in return? I don’t think of Mookie as a HOF lifelong Dodger like Kershaw is, so not exactly comparing apples to apples.
But, like Mookie, Kershaw isn’t all that reliable and has chronic injuries so there are some similarities.
Cronenworth over Lux to replace Chisholm? That’s just not right!
Total joke!
Just read that Kershaw ‘s whip is currently at 1.001 and is fourth on the all time list. This stat could fall below 1 if he keeps pitching perfect innings like he has this year.
I say let him be the starter in the all star game. Ohtani pitches the top of the first. Kershaw goes out and pitches the bottom of the first facing Ohtani batting first.
Baseball drama at its best!
Did I just see Max flipping us off here at LA Dodgertalk?
Well I feel very confident if we play a Freeway Series this year!
Just my opinion but Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman are better players than Mookie Betts. Not just this year but also careers.
This would be a good time to see what Vesia can do against RHB’s or see if there’s more evidence Kimbrel has gotten back on track or otherwise do the normal thing in a blowout game and use either Price or Bickford.
Mookie, Bellinger and Clayton Beeter for Juan Soto….Nats get a superstar (Betts) plus a former MVP and a top minor league pitcher. Dodgers clear Mookie’s long term deal, Bellinger’s 16+ mill contract next and can give that money to Soto….
Muncy is getting better and better at 3b
Hopefully this keeps him off of 2b and thus Lux out of LF
Dodgers are on pace for 108 wins even including when the offense was not so great. As it’s been improving quite sufficiently I’m thinking at least 112 wins!
Nice to see Max crank one out. Any sign that he will start hitting again is a positive. Trea and Freddie were doing Trea and Freddie things.. Also nice to see another strong game from Julio. Dodgers now have four starters with sub-3 ERAs.
The Dodgers are rolling, obviously….but let’s offer a moment of sad silence for the poor, pitiful Angels.
Just a few weeks ago they were rolling too. At one point, MLB.com had them at Np 5 in their “power rankings.” Taylor Ward was the hottest hitter in the game, Trout and Ohtani were doing their thing, Rendon and Syndergaard wer back from injury, Detmers threw a no-hitter….
All of which made a Freeway Series in October seemed like a real possibility.
And then it all fell apart, with an epic losing streak that cost Maddon his job. The Angels haven’t gotten much better since. The mini-sweep by the Dodgers follows a sweep by the once-hapless Orioles. Now it’s the Halos who are hapless–14 games below ,500 and 24 games out of first.
With the trade deadline approaching, they have to be sellers, right?
Just got back to civilization after a week of hiking and fishing a creak. Missed the Futures Game. And I ain’t waking up that early in the West Coast to watch the replay so I hope there are some good highlights. Caught the tail end of the game tonight. The Angels are just sad. Two of the (if not THE) best players in baseball on a team that knows nothing else but the sucking noise found only in the cellar. Baltimore is better. Just sad. I know a lot of Angels fans. I really feel bad for them.
The news that Soto turned down $100 trillion dollars from the Nats has the Dodger world speculating. Not just fans. But “legit” journalists (I did swallow a laugh, just typing that). Andrew Friedman is going to bed studying Garry Kasparov. Everybody else is fumbling through a used copy of the Cliff’s Notes of the original “Checkers for dummies”.
Soto is a stud. 2 years of control would take most of our top prospects. And Soto wants… a continent (he might accept Australia, but don’t count on it) and to have his face carved into the moon (the light side).
We aren’t singing Trea for $400m. We aren’t trading the system for Soto. Nor should we.
Andrew Friedman Is smarter than me. And that’s really about all I know. And that Soto and Trea won’t be Dodgers next year.
GREAT NEWS!!
Dustin May starts and pitches 2 innings last night in the ACL with 3Ks 0Hits 0BB 0R.
FUTURES GAME
DODGERS — Diego Cartaya, C (No. 1/MLB No. 13): The NL’s starting catcher, Cartaya appeared to record the final out in the bottom of the second when he hit a long fly ball to center field, but Jasson Domínguez dropped it at the warning track, allowing two runs to score. Cartaya later grounded out to third to lead off the bottom of the fourth against Jack Leiter. Bobby Miller, RHP (No. 2/MLB No. 26): Miller earned the start for the NL and didn’t disappoint in his future home park. Although he gave up one run on a hit and a walk, he struck out three while topping out at 100.3 mph. Miguel Vargas, 3B (No. 5/MLB No. 70): Vargas joined Cartaya and Miller in the starting lineup at second base and went 0-for-1 with a four-pitch walk and a groundout.
NOT SO GOOD NEWS!!!
Andrew Heaney on rehab at A Rancho last night 2.2IP 6H 4R 4ER 0BB 2K 2HR 13.50 ERA