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

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:

I think we'll see some crusty questions lobbed at ownership and the front office, but I'm not sure it's going to be a steel cage match, and it certainly isn't going to change any organizational sentiments that don't already exist. To the extent that's your hope, I'd reconsider.

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 11, 2019

Of course, the natural (& just!) response from fans should be a desire to see org taking very clear steps to ensure the holes that have materialized on the roster are filled, & the 2nd half offensive-let-down doesn't happen again. That's where I reckon we'll see some chippiness.

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 11, 2019

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

Instructs in January? Here's why the Cubs are doing it. https://t.co/XKwVArXMIH

— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) January 10, 2019

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:

Jaime García is expected to retire from @MLB, source confirms multiple reports. He won a World Series ring with the @Cardinals in 2011, when he joined Fernando Valenzuela as the only Mexican-born pitchers to start in the World Series. @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 9, 2019

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

So the Cubs will be able to transfer Kendall Graveman to the 60-day DL, and off their 40-man roster, on Feb 13. That roster is still at just 38 names, though, so they’re not presently facing a crunch. https://t.co/fT6tMGrnMh

— Cubs Prospects (@cubprospects) January 10, 2019

Throwback –  remember when this was going on:

On this date in 2010, Jim Hendry promoted manager Ryne Sandberg to Triple-A Iowa. Sandberg called the shots for the Iowa Cubs during the 2010 season.

— ChicagoCubsOnline (@TheCCO) January 11, 2019

This conversation is not going away any time soon:

There's a section of the Cubs fanbase that does not want to give Addison Russell a second chance and they're taking action:https://t.co/1Re6D2yk6U

— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) January 10, 2019

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:

Berg is back!

David Berg, UCLA's career ERA leader and the closer on the 2013 National Championship squad, is returning to Westwood as a member of John Savage's coaching staff.

READ | https://t.co/4LK6krVgxz#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/SFEbaPjaQN

— UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) January 9, 2019

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

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

Heads up to a big sale today at the Cubs shop, plus free shipping:

Big sale today only at the Cubs shop, including free shipping: https://t.co/PTpzUhjSEo pic.twitter.com/HLbwa9vj52

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 11, 2019

And a heads up that you can get an Echo Dot today for just 25 bucks.