Stinnett Shines, Candelario Rakes, I Embarrass Myself, and Other Bullets

Like most people, I shower in the nude. It’s kinda the point.

So you can imagine my shock and embarrassment last night at 11 pm when, after exiting the shower, I strode across my room in the buff only to see three sets of flashing lights right outside my bedroom window. After a five second WTF moment, I looked at my phone and saw it blowing up with messages from our security company and our neighbors. The big one? The fire department was about to break down our door, so if I was in the house, I might want to come outside. I threw on random floor clothes as quickly as I could and sprinted to the front door just in time – as soon as I opened the door, the fireman standing post there shouted out around the corner where we have a side entry into our garage “WAIT – STOP!”

After a bit of a confused exchanged, I discerned that I’d inadvertently set off an emergency medical problem signal when I set our alarm for the night, just before I got in the shower. The Wife is out of town, and so when no one could reach me on the phone (I guess I need a waterproof cell phone), the city’s emergency crews came out in force: fire rescue squad, fire truck, and a police cruiser. Man, when I opened that front door, my eyes were probably as wide as my head.

I felt so bad, but I suppose false alarms are probably a pretty big part of the job. They even had to talk to me for a bit to confirm to their satisfaction that there wasn’t someone in the house forcing me to come outside and say that everything was OK. In retrospect, I appreciate that.

They departed, I went over and apologized to our kind and helpful neighbors, and went back inside. One huge stroke of luck: none of the three kiddos was disturbed by all of the commotion. All were still asleep, and it wouldn’t be until the wee hours of the morning that they woke up for their various bottle, bathroom, snuggle, whatever needs. Naturally.

As Luke implies, Jake Stinnett pitched a dominant inning of relief in the AFL Fall Stars Game last night:

I hear seats on the Jake Stinnett bandwagon are going fast.

Maybe it won't be so lonely now.

— Luke Blaize (@ltblaize) November 5, 2017

Stinnett threw only two balls out of his ten pitches, sitting at 94 mph with his fastball, and showing off his wipeout slider. The hope obviously has always been that Stinnett, the Cubs’ second round pick in 2014, could develop into a starting pitcher after converting to the mound late in his college career. Injuries and the failure to really develop that third pitch gummed up the works a bit, and he pitched exclusively in relief when he was healthy this year. The hopes remain high for his future because the stuff has always been very good, but it’s possible it’s going to be bullpen or bust for Stinnett at this point.

Stinnett, by the way, is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this year, and could make for a tough 40-man roster decision. How he’s looking to Cubs scouts in the AFL will go a long way toward making that decision.

Some of the first Rule 5 Draft decisions will actually come up as soon as tomorrow, when minor league players who are eligible can become free agents if they aren’t re-signed or added to the 40-man roster (in the case of minor leaguers who (1) won’t sign a new minor league deal, and (2) are at risk for being taken in the Rule 5 Draft). Arizona Phil has the full run-down of players here at TCR.

David Laurila’s Sunday Notes at FanGraphs includes an opening item on former Cubs infield prospect Isaac Paredes, who was sent to the Tigers with Jeimer Candelario in the Justin Wilson/Alex Avila trade. That made me check: after the trade, Candelario hit .330/.406/.468 (137 wRC+) for the big league Tigers, and Paredes hit .217/.323/.348 (96) for their Low-A club. I don’t know that either player has superstar potential, but Paredes has plus-bat upside at shortstop if he can stick there, and we always said that Candelario could hit, if nothing else. Avila was a very useful piece for the Cubs, but if Wilson is not fantastic next year for the Cubs – I mean, really really good – this trade has the potential to be one of the worst of the current front office’s era. It happens. I was very on board with the trade the day it was made. But that doesn’t immunize our ability to look back and comment.

Such a tough question

Who'd be your pick for AL MVP?

(Chart Credit: Reddit user The Zoo Boy) pic.twitter.com/JfF7SiyCJ0

— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) November 4, 2017

I think I probably give it to Altuve ever so slightly because, although he’s been roughly average at second base, and did not produce as much offense as Judge, being close with the bat as an average second baseman just feels more valuable than doing it as a good right fielder. So close. I don’t think there’s an objectively wrong answer there.

Bonus – they’re both awesome dudes. Example:

Jose Altuve just made that kid's decade. pic.twitter.com/gAKzL2ARa2

— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) November 5, 2017

Everyone asked all season long what was wrong with the 2017 Cubs, and, in retrospect, it’s quite obvious:

In hindsight, it's easy to see what the Cubs were missing in 2017.

Not enough shirtless Travis Wood. pic.twitter.com/j4ICd6EqkZ

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) November 4, 2017

And speaking of that day:

Last year, the Cubs' championship parade and rally was the largest gathering of people in U.S. history. https://t.co/DCfZMrL52s pic.twitter.com/64mhYv6lBN

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) November 4, 2017

Super handy custom FanGraphs lists of current free agents for bookmarking purposes:

@BleacherNation @CubsDen @thecubreporter FG lists for FAhttps://t.co/2HFqFN8EHK SPhttps://t.co/4lZqpYasKu LHRhttps://t.co/2iPtfSOlZx RHR

— chris birkey (@udbrky) November 5, 2017

Heh. Cooper pissed a lot of folks off with this one. He though the fakeness and photoshopping would be obvious, but to him I say – dude, you shopped it TOO well:

Looks like Bryce is at it again @BleacherNation pic.twitter.com/p8623hr3t1

— Cooper (@RushingBaseball) November 4, 2017

Amazon’s lead up to Black Friday continues with the great deals today: kids winter gear, camping stuff, luggage, and those wake-up lights. Plus a thousand other things.