Sports
This rule change is embarrassing. Plus: AL Central deadline breakdown
The Windup Newsletter 
Has the league changed a rule without letting teams know? The Yankees sure think so. Plus: We give the AL Central the deadline overview treatment, and Ken Rosenthal examines an option for the Tigers and Tarik Skubal. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!
Did MLB secretly alter rule?
Sorry to lead with the same story twice in one week, but there’s been a development.
A quick recap: In June, Blue Jays manager John Schneider publicly relayed his frustration with Yankees shortstop José Caballero, who, while at-bat, would wait until the last possible second to look up at the pitcher. MLB then issued a clarification on the pitch-clock rule, reminding everybody that “batters must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by the 8-second mark or else be charged with an automatic strike.”
Caballero’s routine caused issues again on Monday, when Pirates pitcher Dennis Santana appeared to start his delivery with nine seconds on the clock and Caballero still looking down. The umpire stopped play to tell Santana he had to wait for eye contact. It ultimately led to a back and forth, and benches cleared.
Now, about yesterday: In the first game of the Yankees-Pirates doubleheader, Caballero was called for a pitch-clock violation, and it sounds like MLB may have changed how the rule is enforced — perhaps without letting anyone but the umpires know.
In this video, you can hear home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott saying: “You don’t get to do the ‘three, four seconds in the box’ thing anymore.”
“I was looking up at nine seconds,” Caballero retorts. “You’re picking on me!”
Here’s both a GIF and a still of the moment in question:
So, why the violation? Brendan Kuty’s story has the umpires’ explanation:
“It’s not allowed anymore,” (umpire Adrian) Johnson said. “It was the cause of a benches-clearing situation on Monday night. Major League Baseball stepped in. They want it enforced.”
I’d argue that Santana’s temper was the “cause,” but let’s focus on the obvious question: What exactly does the league want enforced? Not the eight-second rule, clearly.
Johnson said MLB informed his crew to enforce a particular part of the rule that warns against “conduct by batters designed to deceive a pitcher into beginning their windup or coming to the set position.”
Ah, the so-called “Contreras Rule” (made necessary after the “Scherzer Rule”). It’s confusing, but this video by Close Call Sports does an excellent job of simplifying it. The video shows Caballero in the past doing a “fake look” — looking at the pitcher as he steps into the box — before his extended look at the ground.
But re-watching the video of yesterday’s at-bat … he didn’t do that.
After the first game yesterday, Caballero made a fair rebuttal: “(The umpire) said they were making new rules today, and it’s on me, because I was deceiving to the pitcher, which doesn’t make sense because, for me … deceiving means you’re trying to trick someone, and I’m not trying to trick someone, because I do the same thing over and over. If you’re gonna make a change of the rule, at least (notify) us before the game.”
Aaron Boone corroborated Caballero’s statement that the league didn’t give the Yankees any warning, calling MLB’s actions “embarrassing.”
From Kuty:
“(Caballero’s) been warned all season,” Johnson said. “We were instructed not to warn him. We were instructed to violate him. That’s what it is. It’s a violation.”
As for MLB, it declined to comment when asked whether the Yankees were notified of the pitch-clock rule change before yesterday’s game.
None of these player-specific rules are in the rule book, making matters more confusing. But with the first two, a memo was sent to teams. If this one was enforced out of the blue, with no warning, then I can’t think of any better words than the one Boone chose to describe the situation — “embarrassing” — both during and after the game.
We’ll keep you posted if the league issues any further clarification.
Middle Relief: A pitcher and prospects for Skubal?
Today, we have an excerpt from the latest notes column by Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon, who lead with the deadline’s biggest questions: What would the Tigers want for Tarik Skubal?
The Tigers probably cannot trade Tarik Skubal without dramatically compromising their chances of winning the World Series. But the Tigers are at least mulling the possibility of securing a package for Skubal that potentially would keep them strong in the present while making them stronger for the future.
The way they would do it, according to two rival executives briefed on the Tigers’ thinking, is by trading Skubal for a controllable starting pitcher plus quality prospects. The starter would replace Skubal in the rotation, backfilling his innings but almost certainly providing lesser performance.
Among the pitchers who might fit in such a trade:
- Emmet Sheehan, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Logan Henderson, Milwaukee Brewers
- Ian Seymour, Tampa Bay Rays
- Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies
- JR Ritchie or AJ Smith-Shawver, Atlanta Braves
- Will Warren or Ryan Weathers, New York Yankees
With the exception of Henderson, who recently missed 6 1/2 weeks with a lower back strain, none of those pitchers has been a world beater this season. Certainly none has been close to the level of Skubal, who has a 2.97 ERA in seven starts since returning from his innovative NanoNeedle surgery to remove loose bodies in his left elbow.
All, however, have shown varying degrees of promise. And all would be with the Tigers for longer than two-plus months, the amount of time Skubal has left with the Tigers before he becomes a free agent. So, of course, would any prospects Detroit landed in the trade.
The problem with such a scenario is that the Tigers’ playoff odds would take a hit, their odds of winning the World Series a major hit. Those odds, as of Wednesday morning, are relatively steep — 28.3 percent to reach the postseason, 2.4 percent to win the Series. And that’s with Skubal on the roster.
“Threading the needle”— the term baseball executives use to describe a strategy in which they both buy and sell, the way the Tigers could with Skubal — can be both difficult and disruptive.
Remember the uproar when the Brewers made the infamous Josh Hader trade at the 2022 deadline, sending the closer to the Padres for left-hander Taylor Rogers, righty Dinelson Lamet, outfielder Esteury Ruiz and pitching prospect Robert Gasser.
For the rest of Ken and Will’s notes column, click here.
AL Central: Can Guardians capitalize on Ramírez return?
After yesterday’s look at the AL West maelstrom, let’s turn our attention to the AL Central.
Like yesterday, we’ll start with each team’s “prospect budget” by averaging the rankings of our own Keith Law, FanGraphs, MLB, Bleacher Report, Baseball Prospectus ($), Baseball America ($) and ESPN — here’s where the farm systems of the four contenders (sorry, Royals) rank, out of 30. Take these with a grain of salt. Most of these are preseason lists (So, for example, the Tigers’ system no longer features Kevin McGonigle), so it’s a fuzzy estimate.
Guardians: 7.14
Tigers: 9.86
Twins: 10
White Sox: 14.71
Let’s start in first place, where the White Sox (54-47) hold a one-game lead. Coming off three consecutive 100-loss seasons, it has to be tempting to lean into the good vibes and buy. But as the fourth-youngest team in the league, they’re a bit ahead of schedule. The best move may be to upgrade, but without over-spending to the detriment of 2027-30, when they should be truly dangerous.
(But hey, I would’ve said the same about the 2023 Orioles, so what do I know?)
The Guardians (54-49) have had some encouraging developments lately. Steven Kwan has emerged from his first-half funk. José Ramírez — out since June 14 with a hamate injury — returned last night, going 2-for-5 with a couple of RBIs in a 10-6 loss to the Twins. They’re in desperate need of more offensive firepower, entering play last night ranked 29th of 30 teams in runs scored. They’ll almost certainly address that.
Last night’s win notwithstanding, the Twins (50-53) have wilted a bit in the second half, going 2-4. They’re five games out in the division, but still just three games back in the wild-card race. I’m not calling it yet, but they need a hot streak that started (literally) yesterday.
We’ve spoken about the Tigers (48-54) and their Tarik Skubal conundrum at length, so we’ll leave it, other than to say: Their hot streak started in June, but they’re running out of calendar.
Handshakes and High Fives
Yesterday, we mentioned the Mariners’ rotation surplus. They boast two starting pitchers on Keith Law’s updated top 70 prospects list, including No. 1: 22-year-old Kade Anderson.
Speaking of rankings, Eno Sarris’ updated starting pitcher rankings go from 1-125. (Yes, it’s another list Skubal tops.)
Before Opening Day, the Astros released Peter Lambert. Today? He’s been their best pitcher. Chandler Rome explains what clicked.
The Phillies need a back-end starter, right? Well, what if they went a little overboard instead?
Meanwhile, as the Cubs wait for an ace to become available, these six starters should be moved by more obvious sellers.
Curious what it will take to make that blockbuster trade at the deadline? Tim Britton has some recent comps for current trade chips.
Three-way trades are fun. They’re also a nightmare to pull off. Stephen Nesbitt and Zack Meisel spoke to front-office execs about executing a “hairball.”
Kevin Gausman was emotional when discussing the possibility of being traded this year, saying he feels “lucky” to have been a Blue Jay this long.
Good Royals news: Salvador Pérez tied George Brett for the Royals franchise record at 317 home runs. Bad Royals news: Bobby Witt Jr. has hit the IL with back tightness.
The Rays signed Grady Emerson, the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, to a $9.75 million signing bonus, a record for a high school player.
Streak watch: The Red Sox tied the franchise record with their 15th consecutive win, in the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader, but took a 5-1 loss in the nightcap, ending the streak.
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: This pun-drop by announcer Chip Caraway after Joshua Kuroda-Grauer took a foul ball to the groin.
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