The Players May Fight Everything Now, Bullpen Carts, Dance Moves, and Other Bullets
You don’t realize how tedious your morning routine is until someone else offers to do it for you. Because I’m currently bedridden except for crutch-shuffling trips to the bathroom, The Wife is insistent that she get me all set up for the day with my usual stuff. She’s awesome, and, it turns out, I’m the worst. I want my series of morning drinks a certain way, I want my oatmeal a certain way, I want the sequence of things a certain way … none of this is an issue when I’m doing it for myself, of course. I just didn’t realize how dang particular I am until somebody asked. Sorry, dear. I swear I’m being flexible!
- As the league and players continue to negotiate about pace-of-play initiatives, the relationship between the frozen free agent market, a CBA that has proved terrible for the players, and anything else at all that the league wants to accomplish is becoming more clear. Ken Rosenthal writes at length about it today:
Players galvanized against owners; dispute over pace of play merely first skirmish. https://t.co/PGESnsUQmB $
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 2, 2018
- For those of you who have a subscription to The Athletic, I’d strongly encourage you to read that piece to get a better sense of how the players can and cannot push back against ownership before the current CBA expires in four years. Collective action like a strike is virtually impossible this far in advance of a CBA expiration – but taking firm, almost annoying, stances on things like mound visits and pitch clocks? The players can and will be doing that. They’ve been forced into a corner by an agreement that they never should have signed off on, and – in my view – ownership probably never should have tried to make so one-sided in the first place. You should probably expect every minor change to the game to be a disproportionately ugly fight for the foreseeable future.
- Speaking of which, I can and will *ONLY* support the return of bullpen carts if they look incredibly stupid, otherwise what’s the point:
Yes @Cubs. Do it. pic.twitter.com/9LjyK5OImd
— MBDChicago (@MBDChicago) February 2, 2018
- As for that relationship between money for players and the various changes to the game, the Players Association is not going to be subtle:
Union head Tony Clark on MLB pace-of-play proposal: “As we sit here today, the first week of February, our focus is on the 100+ free agents still available. The players and (union) remain committed to the competitive integrity of the game on all fronts, including on-field rules.”
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 1, 2018
- In other words, we’ll care more about the on-field stuff when you show us you care more about the “competitive integrity” – meaning teams spending appropriately.
- Maravilloso:
https://twitter.com/cachorros/status/959155157517811712
- Michael, the podcast guest:
Here's Episode 15, co-starring @Michael_Cerami of @BleacherNation. More talk about Yu! https://t.co/kOcOpRnfTp
— Locked On Cubs (@LockedOnCubs) February 2, 2018
- This picture. There is a lot going on here, and the craziest thing might be Ian Happ on the right:
- The new Cubs cap we were loving yesterday was put on a one-day sale by the MLB Shop today, which can’t be a coincidence, right? Whatever traffic-related triggering mechanism put the cap on sale, you should take advantage today:
MLB Shop must have seen all the love for the awesome new Cubs cap because they just put it on a one-day sale: https://t.co/q5FU8nYqB2 pic.twitter.com/NEoPRjbxad
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) February 2, 2018
- Meanwhile, Fanatics is also having a one-day sale today, but it’s 20% off all orders. Friday is shopping day, apparently!
