BRADENTON, Fla. -- The group text came just days before Major League Baseball’s lockout was expected to go into effect. Jacob Stallings was letting his teammates know that he had just been traded to the Marlins.
Not only were those players losing a clubhouse leader and a Gold Glove fielder, they were also losing their players association representative just before the sport’s first work stoppage in 26 years.
Stallings’ friend Chris Stratton told the catcher that he would step up and take over player rep responsibilities. He was hoping to become more involved in the process before Stallings was traded anyway, so he was more than willing to help.