Rather than cleaning the dirt off of their spikes, three Moeller Crusaders professional baseball players were home for Valentine's Day this week and able to attend Wednesday night's Moeller Sports Stag.
It was a night for baseball featuring former Reds Ford Frick Award winner Marty Brennaman, but instead of being where it's warm out, these players are part of Major League Baseball's lockout.
It is MLB's ninth labor stoppage in history and the first since 1995. Of the pros represented at Moeller's annual stag, only Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brent Suter was alive in 1995. Zach Logue is on the 40-man roster of the Toronto Blue Jays and Riley Mahan of the Marlins organization had yet to enjoy their opening days.
By now, pitchers and catchers have usually reported to the Grapefruit League (Florida) or Cactus League (Arizona). Now, full-squad workouts scheduled for Monday, Feb. 21, are a longshot as is the start of spring training exhibitions set to begin Feb. 25.
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"It's great to be here, I've heard about the stag and my dad (Mike Suter, Penn State) has been coming for 25 years," Suter said. "If we get to come to the stag and then we get a deal done next week and start the season, all is well. It's really weird. Reporting day was yesterday and I'm still in Cincinnati."
Suter admits to being uneasy and probably is a little closer to the situation than most players being the Milwaukee Brewers player representative. He's coming off a career season where he was 12-5 with a 3.07 ERA for a 95-win Milwaukee team that lost to the eventual world champion Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series.
"We really don't love being locked out," Suter said. "We want to get a deal done and get the baseball season going."
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Suter, 32, has been working out six days a week in the hopes of getting to Arizona to begin the 2022 campaign. He's been throwing, lifting, running and biking. On Fridays, he throws to live hitters. Like several area baseball pros, he's been working out at Milford's Pro Force Sports Performance near the FC Cincinnati training complex.
An environmental science and public policy major at Harvard University, Suter has been a Roberto Clemente Award nominee and is a natural for the player rep position. Every lockout, in the end, is about money, but he tries to translate for those not privy to club seats.
"The players' side wants that every team competes," Suter said. "The tanking we've seen the last five to 10 years is a big concern for us. You don't necessarily have the best players on the field and best teams wanting to win every day."
He said that behavior messes with the market and baseball revenues. When teams are over-incentivized to lose they can capitalize by gaining better draft picks. He uses the term "guard rails" hoping that teams are putting their best competitive foot forward.
"We are trying to get the minimums (salaries) raised to get a conversation going for younger players," Suter said. "The league is shifting younger, so we're trying to get those guys compensated. The big thing is we want teams that want to win. We want the best players that are big-league ready."
Some of that involves service-time manipulation. Clubs have been guilty of keeping players under their control by not advancing them to the big league roster. After six years of service time, a pro ballplayer can become a free agent. However, by delaying a promotion, a club could delay the process, giving them more control.
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For example, Cubs slugger Kris Bryant is still short (by one day) of his six years of service time as Chicago kept him in the minor leagues to start 2015 despite his ability.
The upside of Suter's time at home has been attending Moeller functions and cheering on his hometown Bengals.
Former Moeller and Kentucky infielder Mahan is projected to be in AAA for the Miami Marlins, While the lockout doesn't affect clubs that have opened up for minor leaguers, he still is paying attention to the work Suter does.
"I've seen kind of the evolution," Mahan said of the labor talks. "He was kind of optimistic to 'there's no chance!' so we'll see what happens. Sounds like there's some things in the works right now. It's nice being home but it turns into Groundhog Day pretty fast. I can't wait to get down to some warmer weather."
Suter was a 2008 Moeller grad while Mahan and his former Crusader and Kentucky teammate Logue matriculated in 2014.
Logue, a lefty like Suter, can't report since he's on Toronto's 40-man roster. His fingers are crossed that he makes his big league debut after going 12-4 between AA New Hampshire and AAA Buffalo last season.
"It's a weird, unique situation," Logue said. "I'm obviously happy to be on the 40-man, but now's the time of year where we'd normally be down in spring training getting it going. Hopefully, we get the deal figured out."
Logue lives in Louisville but is back and forth between Cincinnati to see family and work out with fellow Crusaders like Suter, Mahan and Nick Bennett.
"It's good to work out with those guys," Logue said. "It's a testament to the school and to the baseball program. I'm proud to be alumni and come back here and celebrate."
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While the Crusaders of the past wait to play, the current Crusaders will begin play in a little over a month at a new field named for Moeller team doctor Tim Kremchek's family.
Moeller's major leaguers will be recognized at the new Miamiville property such as Baseball Hall of Famers Barry Larkin and Ken Griffey Jr. The Crusaders have also produced big leaguers Buddy, David and Mike Bell, Andrew Brackman, Phillip Diehl, Adam Hyzdu (brother of Moeller President Marshall Hyzdu), Stephen Larkin, Bill Long, Len Matuszek, Eric Surkamp, Suter, Alex Wimmers, and hopefully soon Logue and Mahan.
Suter, Mahan and Logue would all like to take in a game at the new park, just not before they suit up for one of their own.
Thursday, the players and owners met for a reported 15 minutes. Owners currently say a deal must be in place by Monday, Feb. 28, to start the season on time March 31
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