"He wasn't surprised," Barta said of Warren. "I alerted him to the fact I absolutely was going to be on the call, but I wasn't going to contribute to the discussion and I was going to recuse myself and the University of Iowa was going to recuse itself from the vote. I did want to listen, because as athletic director I did want to hear how the conversation went."Pittsburgh Pirates Face Masks

Lee: The fact that the entire baseball world congregates in a hotel lobby and you have an opportunity to catch up with sources and friends from around the industry whom you see only a handful of times a year, often at the big baseball events like the All-Star Game or the World Series. It's a great annual reminder that the world is a lot smaller than it can sometimes seem.MLB Face Masks

Allen’s former managers strongly disagree. Allen’s “teammates always liked him. You could go forever and not meet a more charming fellow,” said Mauch. Chuck Tanner, who managed Allen on the White Sox, said in a 1995 interview with SABR, “Dick was the leader of our team, the captain, the manager on the field. He took care of the young kids, took them under his wing. And he played every game as if it was his last day on earth.”Cleveland Indians Face Masks

Schoenfield: Let's look at what Whitey Herzog did for the St. Louis Cardinals at the 1980 winter meetings. The Cardinals had been stuck in neutral for more than a decade and finished 74-88 in 1980. Hired as the club's GM in August, Herzog made himself the manager as well, then set out to remake the club. He signed Darrell Porter as a free agent, then made three big trades involving 23 players, trading away 12. He acquired two future Hall of Fame relievers (Bruce Sutter, Rollie Fingers) and then traded away Fingers and another Hall of Famer, Ted Simmons. The deals involved four All-Star catchers (Porter, Simmons, Gene Tenace, Terry Kennedy). He traded away a future Cy Young winner (Pete Vuckovich). In all, 11 of the 23 players accumulated at least 10 career WAR and most were still in their primes or early in their careers at the time. And that wasn't all. The following offseason, Herzog used two of the players acquired in 1980 (Sixto Lezcano and Lary Sorensen) to help acquire Ozzie Smith and Lonnie Smith. The Cardinals had the best record in the NL East in 1981 and won the World Series in 1982 -- and basically have been good ever since.

Young pitched 13 seasons in the majors, the first two with the Rangers after the 6-foot-10 two-sport standout grew up in Dallas and played baseball and basketball at Princeton. The 41-year-old had been with MLB since May 2018.

Overall, this is a relatively thin market lacking the superstar power of the last couple of offseasons. Still, there are some valuable options. Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, Astros outfielder George Springer, Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu and Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna are the top position players, with the Reds' Trevor Bauer the top pitching option, followed by the Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka. Liam Hendriks of the A's, who was one of baseball's best closers the past two years, is another intriguing name. Other position players include Justin Turner of the Dodgers, Oakland's Marcus Semien, the Twins' Nelson Cruz, Michael Brantley of the Astros, Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox and the Phillies' Didi Gregorius. Other pitchers on the market include Taijuan Walker, Jake Odorizzi and Trevor May.

Orioles slugger Trey Mancini and outfielder Anthony Santander were offered 2021 contracts before Wednesday night's deadline. Mancini missed last season while receiving treatment for colon cancer. He batted .291 with 35 homers and 97 RBI in 2019.Cincinnati Reds Face Masks