Happy Thanksgiving, all! I say this without a hint of sarcasm, given what’s about to follow, but I’m very thankful to have such a wonderful community of readers here (indeed, one so wonderful that I know I can explain what I’m about to explain, and I’ll receive kind words, gentle ribbing, and general support). I’m thankful for Michael, Luis, and Luke. I’m thankful for the Cubs’ 2016 season!
Thanks all around, and I hope everyone is having a great day.
For me, the day has not quite been what I’d envisioned. As most of you know, I had a vasectomy earlier this week, which was a surprisingly unpleasant experience, but whatever. It was Monday, and by Tuesday, I was on my way to being fine. But then yesterday, I noticed considerable swelling and increased pain. By this morning, it was sufficiently bad that I had to go to the ER. It turns out I’m dealing an atypical (2-5%) complication, which left me with a hematoma down there. There’s not much that can be done for it, and my body should take care of it within the next three to seven days. In the interim, I’m supposed to rest (which is very tough with three small children running around; The Wife remains a saint), and basically be in a ton of pain. As long as it really does clear up when it’s supposed to, I can deal with the pain. (Though, side note: getting an ultrasound today to diagnose the hematoma was easily the most painful experience of my life. I am thankful I didn’t crush The Wife’s hand.)
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The upshot around here is that you shouldn’t notice too much difference, since I’m just going to be sitting around anyway. I will gladly accept all positive vibes you want to send out into the universe in my direction, though. This is not fun.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks and Mariners got together on a huge trade last night if you missed it, with Taijuan Walker and Jean Segura the biggest names in the five-player trade. And today, the Braves reportedly agreed to a two-year, $11.5 million deal with Sean Rodriguez, who departs the Pirates. Rodriguez, 31, was quietly excellent last year, capably playing every single defensive position besides pitcher and catcher, and hitting .270/.349/.510 in the process. He probably won’t repeat that with the Braves, but if he’s anything close, he could become a nice tradable piece for the Braves (unless they are able to pull of the long-rumored move for a guy like Chris Sale or Chris Archer, in which case it’ll be clear that they really are going for it this season, as much as I might believe that’s a year early). Either way, he’ll be around long enough that the Gatorade cooler community in Atlanta has already reached out to Rodriguez to start out on good terms.
We talked about the possibility of a lockout yesterday, as the current CBA expires in a week, and Bruce Levine adds a little bit more. Levine makes it sound more like a lockout will be the approach if a deal is not reached by December 1, as opposed to just continuing under the old agreement while negotiating. Further, Levine’s discussion of the international draft – one of the most contentious issues – actually frames the issue as one overall draft (international and domestic together), rather than a new, second and separate international draft. To be sure, the combined draft was always possible, but also strikes me as much more logistically complicated (with the potential hold down player bonuses even more, unless bonus pools are increased dramatically (and, even then, international players are still likely to see their bonuses drop, since they would lose the ability to negotiate with all teams)). Also, Levine indicates that players are concerned about teams tanking, insofar as it depresses overall payrolls.
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When you have a really good party, someone’s gotta clean it up:
Eno Sarris wrote about the changing look of outfielders in baseball, and while I knew there was an ever-increasing emphases on faster, more defensively-capable outfielders (rather than all hulking sluggers), I definitely didn’t know how stark the drop-off in offensive production has been over the past 40 years or so. He doesn’t mention it, but I’d guess the designated hitter has a little something to do with this (no longer have to park those guys in the outfield in the AL), but even after the DH came into play, the trend continued, to the point where, in 2016, outfielders collectively provided only league-average offense for the first time since 1925!
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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NEWSLETTER
Happy Thanksgiving, all! I say this without a hint of sarcasm, given what’s about to follow, but I’m very thankful to have such a wonderful community of readers here (indeed, one so wonderful that I know I can explain what I’m about to explain, and I’ll receive kind words, gentle ribbing, and general support). I’m thankful for Michael, Luis, and Luke. I’m thankful for the Cubs’ 2016 season!
