Evan Drellich

A reminder that an in-depth book on the Houston Astros and their management culture will be out soon, based on years of reporting. Never-before-told stories about how the franchise was built: Crane, Luhnow, the scandal, the innovation & more. Check it out! amazon.com/Winning-Fixes-…

Major League Baseball says it wants to share revenues with players “50-50.” The union says that’s “misleading propaganda” and “deception.” The really big question at the heart of this: 50-50 … of what? How MLB wants to define revenue: nytimes.com/athletic/74738…

Reasons why this story is cool for me 1. Broadway rules, Chess shouldn't have closed 2. It's not about collective bargaining 3. web.archive.org/web/2011060606…

When José Iglesias got the call asking him to join the cast of Buena Vista Social Club on Broadway, he thought they had the wrong number. “I lost some sleep, I’m not gonna lie,” Iglesias said. “Just like we’re gonna face an ace and a good pitcher in the playoffs: that type of energy, that type of adrenaline, that’s how it feels." nytimes.com/athletic/74672…

MLB collective bargaining update: the players' union today made a proposal on the amateur draft, which it wants to move to June.

An Angels scout was fired this season for filming Rockies coaches on his phone from a seat in the stands. He calls himself "The Baseball Spy". Here's what happened, with @Britt_Ghiroli: nytimes.com/athletic/74594…

New pod: @TheAthletic's @EvanDrellich on an era of good feelings around baseball in the face of a coming labor war. open.spotify.com/episode/1jUneZ…

Attention, MLB service-time wonks: the planned 2027 season is set to have 187 days in the championship schedule.* *Barring, well, you know nytimes.com/athletic/74506…

According to a commissioner’s office memo obtained by The Athletic, teams were pushing the boundaries of guidelines governing the use of technology by “in many cases” installing custom apps that expanded the use of the iPads “beyond their originally intended purpose to include recommendations regarding substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches.” nyti.ms/4ff60Ax

News from @enosarris:

A very important story about the sandwich many All-Stars eat whenever they’re playing at Citizens Bank Park. “When you come to Philly, you forget about nutrition,” Freddie Freeman said. “You eat the cheesesteaks in the visiting clubhouse.” nytimes.com/athletic/74436…

Union blasts league’s MLB dot TV ad campaign promoting salary cap, from @ByMcCullough nytimes.com/athletic/74452…

A vote on the Padres' still-pending sale seems likely sometime after the trade deadline. The proposed group is likely to include former Lakers execs Joey and Jesse Buss, sources tell @TheAthletic: nytimes.com/athletic/74458…

Statement from Niccolò Campriani, LA28’s senior vice president of sport: "As reflected in our exchanges, we are all working toward the shared goal of seeing the world's best athletes representing their respective countries at the LA28 Games, and it’s great to see that enthusiasm coming from the athletes as well. Conversations continue to move in a positive direction, and we are confident in the process and optimistic about the path ahead."

MLB wants to make the LA Olympics in 2028 mandatory for chosen players. Skip out without an approved excuse, and you're on the restricted list without pay and service time for as many as 25 days through Aug. 3 that year — well after the second half begins July 21. Supposed to be an Olympian, but on the IL? You can't come back to your MLB team or go on rehab until after Aug. 3. To MLB, however, the holdup in negotiations over the Olympics is the players' demands for tickets and housing. nytimes.com/athletic/74454…

Bruce Meyer remains under the impression that the 2028 All-Star Game would be in San Francisco to accommodate the Olympics in LA in 2028. "As far as I know San Francisco is the site." Player participation in those Olympics is still being negotiated: "We are at a very early stage"

Bruce Meyer of the MLBPA: "Over the past year and at the direction of player leadership, the MLBPA has cooperated with an investigation led by the United States attorney’s office of the Eastern District of New York. It’s our understanding that the MLBPA and its current staff are not and have never been targets of this ongoing investigation."

"Our game is in a great place. ... I have watched over the last few years the owners, the commissioner’s office, try to convince fans, the consumers of their product, that their product is broken. "I think it’s perverse." — Bruce Meyer of the MLBPA in opening remarks this morning to press

What goes into prepping for the All-Star Game? The Athletic went behind the scenes with Dave Roberts and the Dodgers coaching staff to find out. “I try to do it from the lens of: This is for the fans. What allows for the fans to have the best experience?” nytimes.com/athletic/74439…