e annual Cactus League Media Day news conference."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Chicago Cubs recapsChicago Cubs minor leaguesChicago Cubs essaysChicago Cubs game threadsWrigley Field renovationsFull archiveLibrary Bleed Cubbie Blue Community GuidelinesCurrent time in ChicagoBCB Specials & Site InfoWinter 2019 music threadsCubs StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Cubs newsYahoo Cubs team pageYahoo Cubs reportYahoo Cubs depth chartYahoo Cubs transactionsYahoo Cubs photosOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub 鉁旴aseball newsRob Manfred on Joe Ricketts and the Cubs Curt Schilling Jersey , pitch clocks, expansion, labor peace and moreNew,36commentsThe Commissioner addressed several topics at the annual Cactus League Media Day news conference.CSTShareTweetShareShareRob Manfred on Joe Ricketts and the Cubs, pitch clocks, expansion, labor peace and moreAl YellonGLENDALE, Arizona — Commissioner Rob Manfred covered a vast array of topics on Cactus League Media Day in front of assembled media at the Glendale Civic Center. He began his remarks by celebrating the game, saying he had attended Angels batting practice earlier in the day and that he was ready for baseball on the field.Well, who isn’t, after this winter of baseball discontent. Manfred also noted the several international games to be played this year, in Mexico and London, and also where big-league games will be played in other “non-traditional” major league venues such as Omaha and Williamsport (where the Cubs will play the Pirates August 18 in the Little League Classic).He promoted the idea that no one has repeated as World Series champion since 2000 and that speaks to the “competitive balance” in the major leagues, and looks forward to young players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and others coming to the majors this year as Ronald Acuna Jr. did last year.Of particular interest to Cubs fans was a question asked about whether MLB would get involved in the controversy surrounding Joe Ricketts’ emails. He replied:Manfred was asked about the reported Manny Machado signing. As the lawyer he is, he acknowledged only the “reports, which I’ve read” but noted the Padres have not yet announced the signing. He did say that having a small-market team like the Padres signing a talent like Machado “is good for baseball, having big stars” in places like that.I asked him about pitch clocks, which will be coming to spring training games this weekend, and the reports that MLB owners want to negotiate with players before unilaterally implementing them for the regular season. Here’s his answer in its entirety:Translation: We’re doing it in spring training for practice so that everyone is used to it by the time we implement it on Opening Day. Based on Manfred’s response to my question I fully expect us to have pitch clocks in regular-season games this year.Manfred was asked by The Athletic’s Jayson Stark whether there would be any use to having free-agent signing deadlines, given the late signings this year and several top free agents still unsigned. He replied, “The question is, what do you do if the deadline passes? Say we make a deal with the Players Association that every player has to be signed by, say, January 10. What do you do if someone, in fact, isn’t signed?”That’s a reasonable question. If there’s a negotiated deadline between two parties for something and it passes without the “something” occurring, usually some sort of financial penalty. But in this case, who would be penalized? And how? So I think something like that probably isn’t going to happen. He noted that owners bargained for a “market system” in the last negotiation, with “smart, aggressive negotiators on both sides,” and that “timing was used as a point of leverage during those negotiations — on both sides.”A question was asked about banning shifts. Here’s his answer, which was totally noncommittal:This is better, at least, than Manfred’s comments in the very first interview he gave as Commissioner in 2015, when he said he wanted to “ban shifts.” Personally, I feel if a hitter is given the left side of the infield because analytics say he most often hits to the right side (I’m looking at you http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-zack-greinke-jersey , Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward), then maybe it’s up to the hitter to adjust to the shift and hit the other way from time to time, spread out the shift. I don’t want to watch a baseball game where there are lines or boxes on the field designating where a fielder can stand until the ball is pitched.Manfred was asked about his vision for the game five years from now. His first mention, as you might guess, was to have the stadium situations in Oakland and Tampa Bay resolved, as in “having shovels in the ground.” He gave the people in Oakland who are working on a stadium location “a lot of credit” for the work they’ve done so far. He mentioned expansion to 32-team leagues and was open the idea of “Canada and Mexico” as possibilities (as well as having a better system for “player development in Mexico”), and when that happens he noted “geographical realignment” and possible changes in the way postseason play is arranged, though he wasn’t specific about that. He added, “I hope we will have another Basic Agreement in place and another extended period of labor peace.”This was a common theme throughout his remarks; he was asked again by more than one person about strike talk, about players coming up to media unasked and talking about labor-management relations, and he always said the “right” thing, noting that “people said we wouldn’t have an agreement without a strike in 2002, and we had an agreement without a strike, and people said we wouldn’t have an agreement before the offseason in 2008, and we had an agreement before the offseason.”I’d counter to those comments that labor-management relations were much more peaceful when Bud Selig — for all his faults — was in charge. Selig was a conciliator and managed to broker several good agreements. Manfred, for all his experience in collective bargaining — and he mentioned this several times during the presser — doesn’t seem to have the same kind of collaborative ability. I should say that he tried to position his remarks in a way that reached out to players. Whether this will end in a positive way for the sport remains to be seen.In particular, he was asked whether he could find a solution to the current team practice of keeping players (Kris Bryant, Ronald Acuna Jr., etc.) in the minor leagues to manipulate service time. Here’s his reply in its entirety:He went on to say, again, that he was a believer in collective bargaining. Which leads me to say that the players, if they want a better system, ought to have a better negotiator than Tony Clark to get it. It would appear, in Bruce Meyer, a good labor lawyer, they now might have that. Manfred said he thought some of the issues were “a little overblown right now,” and though I personally am still concerned about a strike that could wipe out the 2022 season, I do think Manfred is sincere about his desire to avoid that, and he asked media to not “sensationalize” the current back-and-forth on the issues. That’s a fair request.There was a question asked about the Arizona Fall League, and Manfred hinted that the league might wind up having its schedule moved back. The reason actually makes some sense — he said that having the minor leagues stop in September, then take four weeks off before the AFL season begins, could lead to possible injuries. That’s a valid concern — but then, do you have the AFL season end during the baseball postseason? Now, it goes into November, and can have some attention to itself. Perhaps they can begin it in September and keep it going into November by playing fewer games per week. A similar concern prompted the Cubs to move their instructional league from October into January, when players would then have the winter off Gregor Blanco Jersey , and come back to play the week of instructs just before spring training begins.On this, I give Manfred some credit for forward thinking.Lastly, I brought up the attendance drop from 2017 to 2018, and noted three factors: bad weather, tanking teams, and the one I wanted him to address, high ticket prices. I asked him what he could do to assure fans that baseball games would remain affordable. Again, here’s his answer in its entirety.Someone let the Cubs know about that, please.I found Manfred to be more open-minded in his remarks and responses this year than on previous Cactus League media days. He’s learned, I think, that consensus is needed for radical changes in baseball, even though there are some (the automatic intentional walk, the mound-visit limit, and possibly the pitch clock) that he has instituted unilaterally. Those are minor blips on the baseball stage, though, and any bigger things in the game itself (shifts, divisional realignments, etc.) will require a lot more thought. I still think he ought to listen more to real baseball fans; I don’t think he does enough of that. Perhaps someday Rob Manfred will have a news conference open to fans. I think he’d be enlightened about how much fans know, and care, about the game we all love. Scores, news, and notes from around the Detroit Tigers farm system for Friday, April 5, 2019."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Detroit Tigers AnalysisDetroit Tigers Prospect NotebookDetroit Tigers Game ThreadsDetroit Tigers NewsDetroit Tigers PodcastsMLB prospects & minor leaguesDetroit Tigers Prospect NotebookMinor League RecapsTigers prospect Matt Manning and the Erie SeaWolves hammer the ThunderNew,19commentsScores, news, and notes from around the Detroit Tigers farm system for Friday, April 5, 2019.EDTShareTweetShareShareTigers prospect Matt Manning and the Erie SeaWolves hammer the ThunderToledo Mud Hens 4, Louisville Bats 3 (F/11) (box)The Hens jumped out to an early 3-1 lead backing starter Ryan Carpenter with runs in each of the first three innings. Carpenter was solid over four innings, but a little wild, allowing three hits, three walks, and one run across four frames. He also punched out four on the night. After the Bats scored one in the first, Victor Reyes doubled home Ronny Rodriguez in the bottom half of the frame to tie it up. Danny Woodrow drew a bases loaded walk in the second inning, while Brandon Dixon cracked a solo shot in the third to build a two-run lead. Reliever Paul Voelker allowed the Bats within one by surrendering a run in the fifth. Eduardo Paredes then blew the lead in the eighth Fernando Rodney Jersey , forcing Zac Houston to come on for extra innings. He blanked the Bats over two innings, setting up a walk-off victory when Woodrow dropped down a squeeze bunt and Willi Castro raced home to win in 11 innings.Castro: 2-5, 2 RWoodrow: 1-4, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SBCarpenter: 4.0 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 4 SOComing up next: The Hens look to make it three in a row to start the season as they host the Bats again on Saturday. First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m. ET as Beau Burrows makes his Triple-A debut.Erie SeaWolves 11, Trenton Thunder 1 (box)The SeaWolves won on Opening Day behind a solid season debut from Matt Manning. Manning wasn’t exactly sharp, and was visibly frustrated as he lost his fastball command briefly with a few batters, but other than two solidly struck balls he almost casually dominated the Thunder lineup. The curveball was erratic on a chilly night in Erie, but he threw his share of good ones and mixed in a few nice changeups as well. Manning sat 93-95 miles per hour with his fastball, threw 33 of his 68 pitches for strikes, and looked like he had added some muscle in the offseason. The whiffs on his heater were plentiful.Meanwhile, the SeaWolves’ offense was going off in a big way. Josh Lester launched a solo home run to right field in the fourth to knot things at one run apiece, and then the bats erupted in the middle innings. Derek Hill had three hits, including a triple, from the leadoff spot, while Isaac Paredes mashed his first home run of the season deep to left in the sixth. Cam Gibson doubled and tripled in this one, and after a four-run sixth inning the score was 8-1 as the SeaWolves pulled away.Hill: 3-5, 3B, 3 R, 2 RBI, SOParedes: 2-4, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, HBPGibson: 2-5, 2B, 3B, 2 R, SOManning (W, 1-0): 5.0 IP, H Jorge De La Rosa Jersey , ER, 3 BB, 5 SOComing up next: Alex Faedo will take on RHP Brody Koerner on Saturday at 1:35 p.m. ET.Lakeland Flying Tigers, 5, Tampa Tarpons 3 (box)Tarik Skubal took the ball on Friday night, and showed why many are excited about him. The Tigers ninth rounder in 2018, Skubal is a hard-throwing lefty with a power fastball and a nice breaking ball to boot. He spun four innings of one-run ball, walking two with four punchouts to his credit. He was backed by some hard-throwing relief arms. Drew VerHagen made a rehab appearance, tossing a perfect inning. Billy Lescher and Max Green each surrendered an unearned run, while Jason Foley — who touched triple digits before missing the 2018 season to Tommy John Surgery — and Wladimir Pinto wrapped up the eighth and ninth innings with no issues.Daniel Reyes, who cracked a late two-run shot on Thursday night to help the Flying Tigers win their opener, was the hero in this one as well. Reyes cleared the bases with a third inning triple to pick up three RBI on the night. Center fielder JaCoby Jones doubled a scored a run in his first rehab appearance, though he also struck out three times. Brady Policelli collected a double and a triple, while catcher Austin Athmann had a three-hit game.Reyes: 1-4, 3B, R, 3 RBI, 2 SOPolicelli: 2-4, 2B, 3B, RBI, SOSkubal: 4.0 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 4 SOComing up next: Elvin Rodriguez takes the ball for the Flying Tigers on Saturday. He will be opposed by the Tarpons’ Glenn Otto.Bonus: Take a look at hard-throwing lefty and noted wild card, Max Green.South Bend Cubs 1, West Michigan Whitecaps 0 (box)Wilkel Hernandez looked good in his season debut for the Whitecaps, but didn’t get any support. Hernandez spun four innings, allowing a run on three hits with four strikeouts and took the loss. Chris Proctor had a pair of hits in the losing effort, while Jose King and Reece Hampton chipped in with a single apiece.Proctor: 2-3Hernandez (L, 0-1): 4.0 IP, 3 H, ER, 4 SOComing up next:Carlos Guzman gets the ball for the Caps on Saturday as the series shifts to Comstock Park. The Cubs will start Eury Ramos. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. ET.