MLB Knowingly Used Two Types Of Baseballs Last Season And Lied About It (And Is Still Lying About It); CBA Expires Tonight, Immediate Lockout Expected

MLB knowingly used two different types of baseballs last season, according to Business Insider. Some of the balls were more livelier than others. Apparently, only league officials were aware of this secret. Players, managers, coaches, scouts, and front office officials all kept in the dark.

The story is behind a paywall, so I am relying on Craig Calcaterra's recap (my emphasis):

MLB's statement [in response] is that, because of the pandemic, the lighter, shorter-flying ball the league said it was going to use everywhere was unable to be produced in sufficient numbers to supply a whole season's worth of balls so the league had to use the heavier, livelier balls of the past to fill out the season's inventory. Per [Business Insider's] and [astrophysicist Dr. Meredith] Willis' investigation, however, that's not true. Rawlings began making the new ball in October 2019, well before MLB's official announcement about the change and the company went back to producing the old ball in January 2020, before the pandemic hit America. As such, the use of the older, higher-flying ball was not a pandemic-related necessity at all. It was, it seems, a conscious choice on the part of the league to make it so that two different sets of baseballs were in play.

The fact that the league used different balls in the same season, and that they quite obviously lied about it until they were caught red-handed, opens up a TREMENDOUS can of worms, of course.

Did the league know which balls were going where? Did they send deader balls to certain series and livelier balls to others? Players have long suspected that the league manipulates such things to suit its interests. The league — and many others — have brushed this off as conspiracy theory stuff but . . . is it? We know now it was possible. And we now know that the league has been untruthful about the topic in general. If you're a player, what are you to think?

This is a big story, folks. It should have big repercussions. Repercussions which could extend to the ongoing CBA talks which, by definition, cover matters of fairness and competitive integrity and which always hinge on one side's trust of the other.

This story is not good for MLB, obviously, but it is especially that it is breaking right now, as the current CBA expires at 11:59 tonight. The Athletic reports that "all signs point to a work stoppage". MLB is "expected to lock out players [on Thursday] and shut down the business of the offseason until a new CBA is signed".

The Red Sox have signed lefty James Paxton to a $10 million contract for 2022, with a two-year club option. Paxton, 33, had TJ John surgery last April and won't be back until midseason some time.

Paxton has pitched only 21.2 innings over the last two seasons, including 1.1 innings for the Mariners last year. From 2016-19, Paxton was decent (with one very good season), posting ERA+s of 107, 140, 108, and 116.

Also: The Mets signed Max Scherzer for three years at $130 million. Scherzer is durable and a horse, but he will also turn 38 next July. An average of $43.3 million per season! Good god.