Arbitration Day, Convention Question Rabble, Cubs Instructs, and Other Bullets

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Arbitration Day, Convention Question Rabble, Cubs Instructs, and Other Bullets

Chicago Cubs

The Little Girl has taken an interest in historical mysteries, and she expects me to regale her with a new one every night. It’s fun as heck, because I love that stuff, but I find myself scrambling to do last-minute research before her bedtime. Last night’s installment: the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Mystery.

  • Today’s focus will very likely be on the arbitration deals shaking out, and we’ll be tracking them here. There’s a small chance of a longer-term extension being announced today, but it’s far more likely that one-year deals will be put in place, and then the Cubs will continue to try to lock down a youngster or two. In the meantime, we may still see rumors aplenty, but I’m not sure how many actual signings will break while teams are focused on getting these arbitration deals finished through the early afternoon.
  • Also, just like last year, with all teams now trial-and-file, you can expect to see two things happening: (1) lower deals than projected for players, in general, because of the time pressure and leverage advantage of teams; and (2) more players than usual wind up going to arbitration. If you missed it yesterday, there’s an excellent read on the arbitration process, and how it is shaping up to be a big new battleground.
  • This looks like it will be very cool:

https://twitter.com/ihapp_1/status/1083476160145690629?s=21

  • Speaking of the Cubs Convention, which is one week away, some thoughts on the climate:

  • The Cubs have moved their instructional ball – for the very young prospects – from the end of the season to before Spring Training:

  • The idea is that while it makes the season longer at the front end for the players, maybe they’ll be in a better place to work on and deploy the changes they’ve been instructed upon if their season starts right away after that, rather than a few months later.
  • My dude just wanted to retire as a Cub:

  • A roster note tied to the announcement of the Cubs’ reporting dates:

  • Throwback –  remember when this was going on:

  • This conversation is not going away any time soon:

  • The Cubs’ 6th round pick in 2015 was an extremely-successful, side-arming college reliever, but it didn’t work out for him in the minor leagues. He ascended to AAA in 2017, but didn’t pitch last year, and is now a coach at his alma mater:

  • If you hit a walk-off homer in the playoffs, this is what it should look like:

https://twitter.com/LIDOMRD/status/1083595210007986176

Filed to: Chicago Cubs

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Author: Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Editor and Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and @Brett_A_Taylor.