Because of MLB’s recent labor problems , I really didn’t expect to see the regular baseball annuals come out at the usual time — late January, early February. I was at my local CVS and while waiting for prescriptions, I found the new Lindy’s 2022 Preview issue. The website said these were available Feb. 23 but I had not seen them in my usual haunts.
I guess just get them out of habit because a lot of the information — primarily predictions — doesn’t even matter under normal circumstances. I mean the publications usually hit the stores before spring training, so there’s always a fair amount of things that haven’t been finalized at that point. Free agents are still running around free, surprise rookies might make the teams, and there are still trades to be made (not to mention injuries that could be short-term or season-ending). So you can stuff those predictions in a sack.
A good deal of these magazines consists of a review of the previous season, especially when it comes to statistics. But their stock in trade is prognosticating where the clubs will finish, who will prevail in the postseason, and who will take home various honors? Not to mention the ever-popular prospect reports for both minor league and college/high school prodigies.
Still, this year posed a unique set of issues and I was wondering how they would handle the delay caused by the lockdown. Here’s what Lindy’s said in an “editor’s note.”
Welcome to the 2022 MLB season — we hope. The conflict between the team owners and the players’ association ground to a halt on December 2., along with the usual offseason activity. Free agents remained on ice and player trades were not allowed. As a result, we were forced to publish our magazine in late January without the team reports being as thorough as you have come to expect over the years. As a measure of gratitude to our loyal readers, we will post updated transactions for all 30 teams as we receive information on our website…. For now, go to page 179 for reports on the key unsigned free agents. The designated hitter for the National League teams was expected to be approved, and our NL lineups reflect that change.
So, rolling with the punches. Nicely done. There were actually two editor’s notes, one with the table of contents, the other on a subsequent page; the sentence about the DH appeared on the latter only.
Sure enough, there’s been several developments since I picked up the issue on Monday. Here are just a few, as per MLB.com. I wonder how much of an impact these and yet-to-be-made deals will have on Lindy’s predictions.
- Matt Chapman traded to Blue Jays for 4 prospects (The Blue Jays were already slated for first in the AL East)
- Phillies agree to deal with Kyle Schwarber (source) (The Phillies were picked to finish third in the NL East)
- Tatis has wrist surgery; timeline remains 3 months (The Padres were picked to finish second in the NL West.)
Old habits die hard.
Just for comparison, here’s what I wrote last year, when covid restrictions were much more of a thing.
is available on Amazon.com,
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