It’s amazing how much of the shared experience you cannot discuss in this space if you’re trying to avoid unnecessary toe-dips into anything that *someone* could characterize as “political.” It’s just, kinda, the whole world right now.
All the more reason that it would be nice if the hot stove would start, like, doing stuff.
Speaking of the deafening and soul-crushing silence on the transactional side of the baseball world, here’s a thing I’m talking about now: There is a race horse named Bryzzo trying to reach the Kentucky Derby (Cubs.com). If it wins, I say the Cubs sign the horse as a pinch runner, and then the new nickname for the trio is BBrryyzzzzoo (pronounced Bryzzo, but longer).
The owner, by the way, said they have a hard time coming up with names for the horses, which, to me, just sinks the whole story. Have you see race horse names? There could not be an easier thing in the world – you can literally just look around you and come up with a plausible name. “Shiny Blue Button.” “Hey There’s a Tree.” “My Elbow Hurts.”
… Actually, I’m totally down a rabbit hole now, and am busting out a third bullet on this race horse thing. It makes me want to think of Cubs-related race horse names: “Schwarboard Shot,” “More La Stella,” “Professor Hendricks,” “WillCo,” “Javy’s Magical Sliding Experience.” Yours?
(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Oh yeah, the Yankees still don’t have a manager. To be candid, once Dave Martinez moved on to the Nationals, and the Cubs’ coaching staff was rounded out, the rest of the coaching/managing world kind of fell off my radar. It’s pretty crazy that we’re about to enter December, and the Yankees are still kinda slow-playing their managerial search, but then, if you’re the only one left at the dance without a partner, you might as well take your time. It might even help you, say, criss-cross that search over with the pursuit of a certain 23-year-old Japanese superstar whose decision on his future team will revolve almost centrally on the way he will be incorporated into the organization, as opposed to being purely about money. I don’t think it would be at all crazy to have the Shohei Ohtani pursuit in mind as a peripheral consideration when you work through the managerial candidates. The Yankees are in a situation now where they have that ability, so why not?
Yankees should probably just hire A-Rod and move on …
A very interesting read at FanGraphs from Bradley Woodrum on the evolving nature of baseball through the years, and how – in his view – it’s not really a matter of a “Juiced Ball” era so much as the natural ebb and flow of SO MANY interrelated factors as the sport evolves. He’s not denying that the ball might be different; he just doesn’t want us to ignore everything else, including pitch selection changes, ballpark dimension changes, and player value changes.
The first set of 2018 team ZiPS projections is out at FanGraphs via Dan Szymborski, and it’s the Reds. ZiPS buys Luis Castillo as a legit breakout starter, and also still loves Eugenio Suarez. Other than that – and of course Joey Votto – there’s not much here to like. It does think that top prospect Nick Senzel could be a nice contributor if he were called up, though, so he’ll be something for Reds fans to look forward to.
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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