NEWSLETTER
Yesterday, I was aiming to get some followers on my personal Twitter account – as one does … – and I remarked, generically, that I would do a dance if I got to 10,000. Somehow that turned into Michael and Luis telling the world that I was specifically going to do a dance they sent me on TikTok.
Hey. I always fulfill a promise, however embarrassing, even if it isn’t one I actually made initially myself:
I, @Brett_A_Taylor, hate and love all of you for this. Never promise anything. pic.twitter.com/kTCtVpV84s
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) May 27, 2020
• Not to be lost in the economic pain being felt by Major League teams and Major League players, which get all the headlines, and even after you consider the terrible spot minor league players are in right now, there’s still another group getting crushed this year. Minor league teams:
“That, in essence, is a Band-Aid, where we need a tourniquet.” https://t.co/pdyDrisnGj
— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) May 28, 2020
• Recall, because of the timing of the shutdown, most minor league teams had already incurred the bulk of their expenses for the year … and then their entire stream of revenue (game-day revenues) was effectively cancelled. Yes, some part of a minor league season is still possible, but nobody actually believes it is going to happen at this point. So, then, even if MLB wasn’t aiming to trim 25+% of the minor league affiliates in its eventual deal with MiLB, it was possible that a huge number of minor league teams wouldn’t survive this year anyway. The ones that do will be in a rough spot almost across the board.
• Speaking of minor league players, though, the A’s still stand alone in their shameful decision:
The A's are still the only team to say they will stop paying their minor-leaguers a $400 weekly stipend at the end of the month.
Thoughts from one prospect: “I wouldn’t even care if I was released. It might even be a step in the right direction.”https://t.co/Ag0UdLQYMc
— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) May 28, 2020
• It’s terrible, but true: an A’s minor leaguer right now would probably be better off being released than staying with the organization, on a contract that prohibits him from joining another organization, that doesn’t currently provide him ANY compensation, and apparently limits him from earning any kind of money other than whatever stray, short-term job he can pick up while waiting on baseball (think those jobs are abundantly available right now?).
• Only a small handful of organizations have announced that they will continue to pay minor leaguers a stipend through the end of the would-be minor league season, and a couple others have said they will continue for at least June. The Cubs have not yet announced one way or the other. The previously agreed-upon payments for the league run only through May.
• An interesting comment from an MLB owner, which came before the player response to the owners’ sliding-scale pay-cut proposal:
Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio: "We’re at the precipice of what we need to do to play baseball in the summer of 2020. I think we’re going to.”
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) May 26, 2020
• Was he overly optimistic about how the owners’ offer would be received, or does he think that the ugly negotiations are just a natural part of a process that always had to play out?
• Utility man Trent Giambrone talks about what’s going on:
Drag racing and baseball: Trent Giambrone’s journey to the Cubs.@TrentGiambrone | https://t.co/0iQDDAZNPd pic.twitter.com/lsGBAw0e5x
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 26, 2020
• Toys, supplements, and more are your Deals of the Day at Amazon. #ad
• Briefly an old friend, Casey Kelly is having success in the KBO (he was dominant there last year):
A filthy 78 mph CB from Casey Kelly.
The sellout crowd was impressed. pic.twitter.com/VvV1QhXyWN
— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) May 28, 2020
• Sammy lost value when he wasn’t playing with the Cubs:
Sammy Sosa played 18 MLB seasons & finished 60.1 WAR. Very good.
But: he played in 13 seasons with the Cubs & was worth 60.7 WAR in those seasons.
Sammy had *more* WAR *just* with the Cubs than he did for his *entire* career. Always a Cub.#21for21 @obvious_shirts @The_Heckler pic.twitter.com/Ubrr0uWoQV
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) May 28, 2020
• Interestingly, Marquee tweeted out a random woo-hoo-Sammy play last night:
A young Sammy flying in to make the play! pic.twitter.com/NzzSf18UQr
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 28, 2020
