In a year that has seen extreme labor disagreements within the NFL and the NBA, it’s extremely comforting to know that the owners and the players have reached an agreement on a new five-year Collective Bargaining Agreement — assuring that baseball will have at least 21 consecutive years of labor peace.

One of the stipulations of the agreement is that a second Wild Card spot will be added to both leagues. Five teams will make the postseason, featuring a play-in game between the two Wild Card winners, and — if Bud Selig gets his way — this change could be implemented as soon as the 2012 season.

Adding a fifth playoff team to both leagues is not universally popular amongst fans. After all, making the postseason in baseball is a badge of honor. Only 26.7% of the teams can boast a playoff appearance at the end of the season. It’s not like football or basketball, in which sub-.500 teams can slide into the postseason. Only the elite squads make the postseason in baseball, and that has a sort of innate purity to it.

Does a fifth team in the playoffs really dilute the elite status of a postseason appearance, though?

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The Braves signed a number of players on Tuesday.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. SCOUT Leaderboards: Dominican Winter League
3. Prospecting: John Sickels’ Top-20 List for Houston

Assorted Headlines
Mets Sign Pitcher-Turned-Outfielder Loewen
The New York Mets have signed outfielder Adam Loewen to a minor-league deal, reports Matt Eddy of Baseball America. After pitching in parts of three major-league seasons with Baltimore, Loewen converted to hitting in 2009 and made his second major-league debut this season for Toronto, slashing .188/.297/.313 (.278 BABIP), 73 wRC+ in 37 plate appearances. Loewen, 27, made most of his minor-league appearances in right, but split time pretty evenly between right and center in his brief major-league stint.

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Pat Hentgen had a lot of success against American League hitters in the 1990s, but he couldn’t solve Cecil. The Blue Jays right-hander had 19- and 20-win seasons, earned three All-Star berths, and won a Cy Young award. Against Cecil Fielder, he was a replacement-level stiff. Prince’s old man punished him to the tune of .360/.429/.880 in 57 plate appearances.

Why did the hard-throwing Jay struggle against Fielder, and to a lesser extent against Brady Anderson, Wade Boggs and Nomar Garciaparra? Conversely, why did he have success against Ken Griffey, Jr., Paul Molitor and Rafael Palmeiro? Hentgen — now a member of the Blue Jays coaching staff — did his best to answer those questions.

——

David Laurila: How did you get hitters out?

Pat Hentgen: I was primarily a fastball pitcher. I elevated the ball at times, sometimes on purpose and sometimes by accident.

Coming up through the minor leagues, I was a fastball-curveball guy. They always instilled in us to practice throwing changeups, but that was always my third-best pitch.

When I broke into the big leagues, I realized that my fastball command was probably my best asset. For five years, I pitched with just a fastball and a curveball. In 1996, our pitching coach, Mel Queen, taught me a cut fastball. That made me a fastball, cut-fastball, curveball guy. Toward the end of my career, I started throwing my changeup more, so I was a four-pitch pitcher, with the changeup being my fourth pitch.

DL: How much did individual hitters dictate your approach?

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Episode 103
Major League Baseball released the details of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the League and the Players Association today (Tuesday). Dave Cameron answers questions about the changes from the previous CBA and the likely effect of those changes on the game and competitive balance.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 24 min. play time.)

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As an observer — I hesitate to call myself a fan since becoming a writer — of a team that’s constantly looking for reasonably-priced free agents, I always find minor league free agency particularly fascinating. A couple weeks ago, Baseball America unveiled a comprehensive list of the players available via minor league free agency.

Essentially, these are minor leaguers who have spent the requisite time in the minor leagues without being added to the 40-man roster (based on draft status), or are veterans who signed one-year deals and will test the choppy waters once again. BA does a very good job of summarizing the process after the jump.

A number of noteworthy players on the list have already signed, like Matt Antonelli and Matt Fox. Nonetheless, here are a few of the names I’ll be keeping an eye on:

RP Garrett Mock

Mock has shown good strikeout rates across his entire career, including a 7.8 rate in the minors and an 8.0 mark across three star-crossed seasons in the nation’s capital. After missing nearly the entire 2010 campaign due to a neck injury, it appears as though Mock’s future will lie in someone’s bullpen, where his strikeout rates will likely suit him well. It doesn’t hurt that he spins a pretty good slider, either. He’ll probably have to settle for a minor league deal and spend some time on the farm proving his neck is healthy, but he could be a nice surprise in someone’s bullpen before the end of the 2012 season.

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While baseball fans have been able to celebrate the fact that their sport is enjoying a long run of labor peace, and the negotiation of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement hasn’t threatened any on-the-field action or turned acrimonious in any way, the release of details of the new CBA show that this labor peace does not come without significant cost to fans of teams in markets other than New York.

The details of the new regulations on the draft and international free agents were first reported by Jeff Passan on Twitter. As laid out by Passan, the league is now going to enforce the following changes:

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The Baltimore Orioles minor league system definitely lacks depth and the talent starts to erode after the first three prospects on the Top 15 list. With that said, the first two prospects in particular have monster ceilings and could develop into elite players at the MLB level. With a new front office and a new direction, it will be interesting to see what changes are to come for Baltimore’s minor league development system in 2012.

1. Dylan Bundy, RHP
BORN: Nov. 15, 1992
EXPERIENCE: High School
ACQUIRED: 2011 1st round (fourth overall), Oklahoma HS
2010-11 TOP 10 RANKING: NA

SCOUTING REPORT: Bundy was arguably the best pitcher available in the 2011 draft but the right-hander slipped to the Orioles at No. 4, joining his brother – and fellow Top 15 prospect – Bobby Bundy in the organization. The younger Bundy easily has the better stuff with a mid-to-high-90s fastball, curveball, cutter and changeup. He has above-average pitchability and command for his age. He definitely doesn’t have the biggest frame but also has a smooth, effortless delivery that should help him stay healthy.

YEAR IN REVIEW: It was a huge year for Oklahoma with two prep pitchers – Bundy and his friend Archie Bradley (Diamondbacks) – being selected within the first seven picks of the draft. Fellow prep pitchers Michael Fulmer (Mets) went in the supplemental first round and Adrian Houser (Astros) was nabbed in the second. Even Bundy’s catcher at Owasso High School, Drew Stiner, was selected and signed with the Giants as a 43rd round pick. The Orioles first rounder signed too late to make his pro debut in 2011.

YEAR AHEAD: Bundy is probably advanced enough to open his career in high-A ball but the organization won’t be that aggressive with him; he should start out in low-A ball. Baltimore pushed top offensive prospects Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop with mid-season promotions from low-A to high-A in 2011 but it remains to be seen if the minor league staff would be willing to push a young arm through a similar timetable. It’s important to keep in mind that the club lacks pitching depth in the system but, at the same time, it will be at least a few years before the big league club is anywhere near ready to compete for the AL East division title.

CAREER OUTLOOK: Because he’s such an advanced pitcher, Bundy may need no more than two to three years in the minors before making his MLB debut. The teenager has all the necessary ingredients to develop into a No. 1 starter at the MLB level. The only thing he really lacks is premium size/pitcher’s frame at 6’1” 200 lbs.

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The race between Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp for National League MVP is so very close. Most analysts lean toward Kemp: he played 11 more games, hit six more home runs, stole seven more bases and ended the season with a higher WAR (8.7 vs. 7.8 for Braun).

Let me tell you why Ryan Braun should be the MVP.

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