The first pitch Tatis has launched the [unintelligible 00:00:02]. Slam Diego has come to Arizona and Tatis are no doubt are way up on the [unintelligible 00:00:09] left, and the Padres have themselves a five-run second inning against the Diamondbacks.

Matt Katz: After a very unusual 2020 season, Major League Baseball is back this spring, and things will actually look a little more like what fans are used to. Teams are expecting to play a full 162 games, and designated hitters will no longer be stepping in for pitchers in the National League. Most stadiums are also expecting to welcome back crowds at a limited capacity.

While we'll have to wait and see, how this season goes from a public health standpoint, the MLB has also had to contend this offseason, with several reports alleging sexual harassment by coaches toward female reporters, and personnel. The League has announced overhauls to its harassment policies as a result, but whether teams are actually committed to changing a sexist culture, remains to be seen. Here with me now is Hannah Keyser, a national baseball writer for Yahoo Sports. Thanks for being here, Hannah.

Hannah Keyser: Thanks for having me.

Matt Katz: You're welcome. Spring training just kicked off, and you're not there covering it in-person from what I understand. Just very curious, how are things looking to you from a distance so far?

Hannah Keyser: Well, I wish I was there covering in-person. That's one of the ways that it's looking to me. It's looking warm, which I wish I could be there.

Matt Katz: You're stuck up in New York.

Hannah Keyser: Yes, I'm stuck in New York, in part because while some of the things are different from last year, in terms of the protocols, one of the things that remains the same is there is no reporter access in the clubhouses. That's why I'm not there. It's looking exciting. There's been a surprising number of grand slams that you guys let off for the sound for Fernando Tatis Jr's and since then, both Pete Alonso, for the Mets and Frank Gardner for Yankees have had grand slam which I think-- It's spring. It doesn't mean anything except that it means that people in New York are going to be very excited, and lucky to have probably two really good teams this year.

Matt Katz: Oh, that's good news. Speaking as a Mets fan, that's great news for me. Then, who doesn't love a grand slam in general, most exciting playing baseball. Let's talk about the public health situation as it involves this current season. What protocols will be in place to prevent COVID outbreaks among players and staff?

Hannah Keyser: Oh, I don't think we have time to get through all of them, because I'm looking at a 108-page 2021 operations manual. If you watched last year's 60 games season, it's a lot of the same protocols. In negotiating these protocols, the league and the union started from a place of what they had last year, and not just what they started last year with, but what they developed over the course of the season. That includes masks and social distancing, and really, really elaborate this massive document includes these really elaborate diagrams, of where people should be on the field for every drill. They've really thought through everything.

In terms of, “If you're doing first and third drills, where should everyone on the field be to social distance?” It's incredibly thorough. There are some changes from last year. Probably most notably, is that they have ramped up sanctions for players who break protocol. We haven't seen specific sanctions yet, but we have seen players already forced into isolation. Forced, is maybe too-strong-a-word because the players came forward, but a couple of players on the Indians are isolating right now, after breaking COVID-19 protocols, because there's a stricter overview.

They're wearing these monitor bracelets that the NBA wore. The big update is just that rather than just asking people to do this, they're really taking it seriously and it lays out room for punishment. Hopefully, that'll mean, everyone is even safer, because there were a fair number of outbreaks, especially at the start of last season.

Matt Katz: Hannah, there were some significant rule changes in the shortened 2020 season. Originally, the league wanted to keep some of those rules, but the players union rejected their proposal. What were those rules and why were the players against it?

Hannah Keyser: I don't know that the players were against the rules so much. In fact, there were rule changes that the players wanted that the league rejected, that would be the designated hitter in both leads. Some of the rules are back, most notably, seven-inning doubleheaders, and the runner-on second in extra innings, my least favorite of every rule.

Matt Katz: Me too. I hate that.

Hannah Keyser: I hate that. It's so arbitrary. Those are both back as safety measures. Those were included in these health and safety protocols, allowing for the possibility that games might need to get rescheduled, if there is for instance, an outbreak. We saw off 45 games rescheduled during the 60-game season last year, not 45 of 60, but 45 of all the teams' games. Rescheduled game is a real possibility, which is why both sides agreed to the seven-inning doubleheader and this extra runner-on second base in extra innings, to keep games from getting way too long.

They did not agree. The big hang-up in the labor negotiations this year was between the designated hitter and the National League which they had last year, and which will almost certainly be back in the next CBA when it gets renegotiated this offseason. The designated hitter not in and then, neither do we have the expanded postseason that we had last year. Last year, on opening day, it was crazy. They announced that there would be a huge postseason field and 16 teams more than half, bigger than it's ever been before.

The league wanted that, they wanted that for the very obvious, very literal reason. More postseason teams means more playoff games, means more postseason revenue, because playoff games are worth way more than regular season games, from a broadcast perspective. The league really wanted that to recoup some of their losses. Everybody took hits economically in a pandemic year, and the players want the designated hitter. It creates another valuable role.

Another 15 designated hitters means 15 power-hitting guys, who are more likely to get big deals because they don't have to accommodate their maybe liable defense. There was a huge standoff between these two sides. The end result is it doesn't look ready to get either of those things. Now, like I said, we're going to renegotiate the entire CBA next offseason. Probably, some version of both of those things is still coming, but they really stuck it to each other this year, by not giving another thing that both sides wanted.

Matt Katz: A point of clarification for any soccer basketball, non-baseball fans listening, designated hitter means that the pitcher generally doesn't bat, and there's another offensive player in the mix. Just wanted to sneak that in there, for those who weren't familiar. I want to talk a little bit about non-baseball-related baseball issues.

This season, reporters uncovered allegations of sexual harassment that resulted in the firing of Mets General Manager, Jared Porter and the suspension of Angel's pitching coach Mickey Callaway. For people who have been following, what was detailed in those reports, and what were the ramifications?

Hannah Keyser: Well, perhaps most importantly, what was detailed in those reports was a pattern of behavior that stretched back prior to both of the jobs that they have now. Both of those guys are in brand new jobs. Jared Porter was hired by the Mets this offseason. Mickey Callaway, I'm going to forget if it was this offseason or last year. Those are new jobs for both of those guys, and the report's detailed allegations, almost primarily from previous jobs. Mickey Callaway back from when he was manager of the Mets, Jared Porter from when he was with the Cubs.

What came to light was this pattern of behavior of harassing reporters. Jared Porter, in particular, it was one reporter, a woman from a different country who didn't speak English that well. It was a real abuse of power. Mickey Calloway, it was a slightly different-- A pattern of inappropriate text messages to female reporters. In both cases, what you're seeing is that there's not just a sexual harassment angle, but there is this real trap of, “If you are a female reporter, you want to talk to these people and you want them to reach out to you.”

The Jared Porter one in particular, the ESPN got these text messages, these really outrageous text messages. Most troublingly to me was that in the course of sending this woman dozens of unresponded-to text messages, Jared Porter suddenly dangled trade news in exchange for meeting him for a drink, which-

Matt Katz: Wow.

Hannah Keyser: -obviously puts this woman in a horrible position. She didn't respond ever, and he eventually ended up sending her a nude photo. It's a really difficult, position because it puts you at a professional liability. If Jared Porter is going to tell somebody that trade news, and if it could be you, and it's not if you're a female reporter, now even if you're unwilling to engage with that, you are taking the professional hit.

I think that's something that MLB, even in-- They fired Jared Porter, and Mickey Callaway is under investigation, I don't know why this investigation is taking so long. it's still technically getting investigated. Even if both of these men lose their jobs, which they should and which they likely will, we're still left with a situation in which almost virtually, every man in the industry has information that women want, and that female reporters need to gain access to. Figuring out a way to make those relationships tenable, and productive without tipping over. It's not enough to say, "You shouldn't text women after hours" because women are going to be texting you, they have to get-

Matt Katz: Part of the job, yes.

Hannah Keyser: Exactly. I think that's something that it feels like MLB is not-- Right now, we're still in weeding out bad men, which could take a long time because baseball hasn't really had quite the same reckoning, that has happened in a lot of other industries, but what it's going to look like on the other side, I don't really know.

Matt Katz: We got about 30 seconds left, but I'm just wondering if any teams have announced overhauls to their harassment policies, has this prompted a bit of change on that level?

Hannah Keyser: MLB announced an overhaul, but it involves a third-party helpline or hotline that you can call. Teams are trying to take it seriously. I've been talking to general managers this whole spring, and they tell me that they're talking to their teams about it. When Sandy Alderson had a press conference following the Jared Porter firing, I asked him, "Did you speak to any women?”

Because they said, "We had no idea, we had no--,” Everyone gave him [inaudible 00:11:04] reviews and I said, "Did anyone who gave him a [unintelligible 00:11:06] review, did you speak to any women?" He said, "No," but he said that was because there were no women in positions of power to talk to, and that's probably true, which is its own issue.

Matt Katz: Own issue, right?

Hannah Keyser: I think when it comes to routing this behavior out, we need to look not just at the people in power, but the people they have power over.

Matt Katz: Hannah Keyser is a national baseball writer for Yahoo Sports. Thanks so much, Hannah.

Hannah Keyser: Thanks for having me.

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