SURPRISE, Ariz. – Across the country, owners and players sat down for nearly five hours Monday in Florida seemingly intent on finally chipping away at the issues on a lockout that is bordering on three months long and which threatens the start of the MLB season.
What is clear for now: Major leaguers are at home; minor leaguers have started to report to camps, including the Rangers, for workouts.
Not so clear: What do guys stuck in between – veteran big leaguers on minor league contracts – do?
Show solidarity with a union that currently doesn’t represent them? Or get on to working for a job that may get them back in the union? It’s not always an easy decision.
In the cases of Matt Bush and Nick Tropeano, two veteran candidates with realistic chances at the Rangers’ opening day pitching staff (you know the caveat by now: Whenever opening day may arrive), the approaches have been different. Both are on minor league contracts and thus permitted to work out at team facilities and with the minor leaguers. What is permitted and what is comfortable can be different stories entirely.
Bush, 36, was in Surprise Monday and throwing a bullpen session as he embarks on yet another comeback. Tropeano, 31, was at home and will remain there at least for a few more days while MLB and the MLBPA try to get closer to a collective bargaining agreement. With MLB experience during each of the last seven seasons, Tropeano feels more connected to the principles for which big leaguers are fighting than to whatever might be gained from a few extra workouts in front of Rangers’ personnel.
The Rangers are understanding of both perspectives. President of Baseball Operations Jon Daniels acknowledged as much Monday. The current landscape and the awkward dynamics the lockout has created demands it.
Both players are expected to be in major league camp as non-roster invitees – whenever it opens. There are a handful of other players in minor league camp with a bit of major league experience, but nothing close to Bush’s three-plus years of service or Tropenao, who has more than four full seasons and has pitched in the big leagues in parts of each of the last seven seasons.
For Bush, the decision wasn’t difficult. He’s been hurt most of the last four years, twice undergoing Tommy John surgery and then suffering a flexor tendon injury a week into the 2021 season after winning a job as a non-roster pitcher. He returned on the last day of the season to pitch one perfect inning.
“It’s different,” Bush said of the atmosphere in camp. “It’s almost like when the coronavirus first hit in 2020. You just have to go with the flow because there is nothing else I can do. For me, I can’t sit around and wait for the lockout to end. There wouldn’t be any point in that when I need to be here getting ready. It just comes down to going with the flow and doing whatever I need to.”
When he returned last year, Bush made it clear, he didn’t intend for that to be the final chapter on a remarkable story of a career that was full of promise, tragedy, growth, and comebacks. He fully expected to pitch in 2022.
Given his history, it’s easy to see why navigating the awkwardness of a lockout isn’t difficult. When you’ve been forced out of the game once, it becomes a little more precious.
He was, you may recall, the first pick in the 2004 draft, just ahead of Justin Verlander. He was beset by substance abuse issues that eventually led to a car wreck that left a 72-year-old man seriously injured and led to a 39-month prison term for Bush. When he got a second chance at baseball with the Rangers, he made it clear he’d not take anything related to the game for granted.
“It’s the start of spring training; I’m always excited for that and as excited as I ever would be,” Bush said. “There isn’t that much of a change for me other than switching sides [of the clubhouse] and not seeing as many famous on the back of jerseys.”
But make no mistake, when major league camp does open, a well-prepared Bush is going to have an inside track for a job in a bullpen still lacking veteran presence.
If he can stay healthy, there is ample opportunity for him.
“To me, this is part of the process,” Bush added. “For the guys that have been around a little bit longer, it’s about giving back and allowing someone else to learn from you. If I’m not giving back, I feel like I’m cheating the game. Baseball is a team thing. There is so much to it. We need everybody pulling for one another. So, I feel like it’s huge to help any way I can.”
Right now, the best way for him to help is to help himself. The Rangers need more veteran arms. They need more mentors for young pitchers.
For Bush, that means there is only one place to be: In spring training.
