ANAHEIM — When Angels reliever Brent Suter saw that the Dodgers were getting Tarik Skubal, he was disappointed on two levels.
First, as a competitor in the majors.
“I personally was rooting for other teams to get him,” Suter said. “I was hoping that some teams that hadn’t won the World Series the last couple years were going to get him and boost their chances.”
Second, Suter knew what this trade was going to mean for the public perception of the two sides in the upcoming battle between major league players and owners. Suter is a member of the executive committee of the MLBPA.
The Dodgers acquisition of Skubal had added to the “rich get richer” sentiment among the public. Owners have been pushing for a salary cap, which they say is to repair a competitive imbalance in the sport. (Yes, it would also lead to them making more money.)
Players have pushed back on the need for a cap.
“I our proposals we have been very clear we want to see some changes too,” Suter said. “Do those changes involve a cap? No. But we definitely want some changes, or have proposed some changes that would help parity in the sport in general and help players. We think we can all win here. We’ve just got to get creative to do it.”
The current collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1, at which point a lockout will almost certainly begin. The question is how long it will last. There is a widespread belief that the lockout will drag into the season and end up costing regular season games.
The narrative is certain to be impacted by whether the Dodgers go on to win their third straight World Series.
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“You still got to play the game,” Suter said. “It’s not a guaranteed World Series. Nothing’s guaranteed in this sport. You’ve got to go earn it. They have the last few years, but we’ll see what happens this year.”
KERRY’S STATUS
Right-hander Brett Kerry remained with the Angels a day after pitching four innings in a bullpen game on Saturday night, which suggests that he’s a candidate to start in whatever form their rotation takes after Monday’s deadline.
The Angels optioned Ryan Johnson and José Soriano and Reid Detmers are both candidates to be traded.
Right-hander George Klassen, who has been the best pitcher at Triple-A lately, is one candidate. Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi will make a rehab start at Triple-A on Tuesday, so he could be a candidate to return to the rotation in a couple weeks.
In the meantime, Kerry made a nice case for himself with the way he pitched against the Brewers.
“I thought he did a really good job,” Suzuki said. “He attacked the strike zone, threw some good secondary pitches. I thought (catcher Travis d’Arnaud) did a nice job with Kerry. He pitched well. But we’re kind of deciding, with a lot of moving parts. We’ll see what happens.”
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UP NEXT
Angels (TBD) at Orioles (TBD), Tuesday, 3:35 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM