When the Rumors and Speculation Finally Get to You and Other Bullets

Jan 25, 2018

It’s quiet. Too quiet. Actually, no, it’s pretty much exactly as expected. Also: we are now 20 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting. Just sayin’.

Take this with as many grains of salt as you deem appropriate, but Luis knows about this stuff and he says, yes, this is a significant line move on the gambling market:

Because I miss baseball so much, let's just say there's an occasional dabble into the MLB World Series futures market on my offshore site. Three days ago, Cubs were 12/1. Nothing has happened. Checked again now… 9/1. That's a real move. Something MAY be afoot. #OffshoreKnows
— Rich Mayor (@CityHall03) January 25, 2018

So, if the line moved that sharply and quickly when nothing actually “happened,” it at least suggests that someone out there thinks they know something that everyone else does not know. You can pretty easily connect the dots there, given the rumors in the last few days, but I’d caution you that there are several necessary speculative leaps here. That said, many other oddsmakers now also have the Cubs in the 10/1 to 9/1 range. Lots of bets were coming in on the Cubs at 12/1 in recent days for some reason. It *does not mean that insiders know things*. It could just be that speculative bets started coming in, and others jumped on board because they thought maybe they were catching a move, and that pushed the line.

… not that I’m being TOO obsessive about this stuff:

Me: I'm totally chill, and whatever happens with Darvish, it's totally fine. I'm cool about it. I'm not on edge.

Friend: Hey, did you see the Darvish news? LOL jk nothing yet.

Me: pic.twitter.com/DEfmlC7egf

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 25, 2018

I think I really need something to happen, even if just to stop me from going nuts every day trying to find suggestive info that isn’t there.

A fascinating statistical read over at Cubs Insider working out the relationship between release points and spin rate – like, what if teams could help a pitcher’s spin rate by working on his release point, and know precisely how to manage the relationships between those two things? Seems like something the Cubs probably know about internally, but it’s not something I’ve seen examined from the outside.

A fun watch (and who can tell what year this must have been – without looking – based on the players involved?):

Derrek Lee, Sammy Sosa, and Michael Barrett go back-to-back-to-back in the first inning off Oliver Perez. pic.twitter.com/TmSzS2zhtN

— Kevin Marchina (@kg_holler) January 24, 2018

The Hall of Fame calls from yesterday. Always cool to see:

Calls to the Hall. #HOF2018 pic.twitter.com/HwbHY5dkcf

— MLB (@MLB) January 25, 2018

It’s officially happening, Pearl Jam is coming back:

#LetsPlayTwo @PearlJam to perform at #WrigleyField August 18 and 20! https://t.co/dOuDyznQU8 pic.twitter.com/zpqqDRb1qp

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) January 24, 2018

OK. You did good, #AtReds:

You're all right, #AtReds. You're all right. @Reds pic.twitter.com/1iBEDyZBQS

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 24, 2018

*nudge, nudge, other sports teams, nudge, nudge*:

JUST IN: Despite dropping cost of food by 50% in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta Falcons & United fans spent 16% more per game. Fascinating data point that more teams will look at, great news for other fans. pic.twitter.com/B3bqTLvqF9
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 25, 2018

(I’m guessing that although gross sales were up, the net take to the team was down, though. But I also am guessing the fans were much, much happier.)

Good Deals of the Day at Amazon today, including kitchen supplies and a serious vacuum. There’s also an excellent lightning deal on a serious travel umbrella (under $11) until 11:30am CT if it doesn’t sell out before that. I have been using crap travel umbrellas for a decade, so I’m unreasonably stoked about getting this one.

Meanwhile, so much going on over at The Ten-Yard Line, as rumor season kicks up. Will the Bears trade out of the eight spot? Will they go after a free agent Jaguars wide receiver? Much more.

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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