It’s pretty incredible how you don’t realize the full gravity of the tactile importance of your dominant hand’s thumb until it’s covered by a bandaid. I guess I’ve never had a bandaid all around my right thumb in recent years, because dang, it really effs up a lot of stuff not to have the front of that thumb available to touch stuff.

• I really enjoyed this from Sahadev Sharma, not just for the insights tied to individuals in the organizations, but for the overall sense of how an organization like the Cubs deals with its player development machine constantly being disrupted by coaches and coordinators being poached and promoted:

Cubs minor league coordinators continue to move on to big-league jobs. Now Jeremy Farrell & Chris Valaika hold prominent roles and try to fill big shoes as they help continue the tradition of impact position players being developed through the Cubs system. https://t.co/MHQzMbgcg8

— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) February 8, 2019

• Also, this was a total aside in Sharma’s piece, and it made me laugh, but then it made me think:

So, @sahadevsharma dropped a humorous parenthetical in his latest (https://t.co/xuiyaUgwx5), and I chuckled.

But then I started thinking … it actually *could* be an edge to have an AL team with whom you reliably shared info/coaches/execs/players. So much overlap with TEX … pic.twitter.com/HTesEVe9YA

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) February 9, 2019

• We joke about all the deals the Cubs have done with the Rangers in recent years – when the higher-ups in the front offices were the same – and also the crossover of execs (Shiraz Rehman, for example) and coaches (Anthony Iapoce, for example), but what if you could actually have an organization in the other league that you totally trusted to talk to a little more deeply than you would normally talk to another org? Isn’t it possible that you could each get an edge, sharing efficiencies, trading players where there’s a good fit for one but not the other, etc.? If you believed the org had something to offer you, and if you truly trusted them … why not, right? Tell me I’m crazy. I don’t think I’m crazy.
• Anthony Rizzo did an AMA on Reddit (via Fanatics), and although it’s obviously not hard-hitting (Javy Baez and Pedro Strop are the jokesters on the team), there was one revelatory bit. When asked about who he’d most want to take a road trip with, Rizzo SHOCKED THE WORLD and did not go with Kris Bryant: “Most likely – Definitely Ian Happ. Him and I have gotten really close this last season. We’ve gone on a few trips and I know I can count on him.” HIZZO.

• Watches, bedding, PNY, and more are your deals of the day at Amazon.
• This bobblehead is awesome:

Is this not the greatest bobblehead of all time?! It is Willson Contreras holding a bobblehead of @WContreras40 from the Wrigley giveaway where he had two home runs and 7 RBI’s vs the White Sox! Thanks to my friends @BobbleheadHall and @FOCOusa for this beauty! R/T pic.twitter.com/yvxQGdtLKG

— crawly's cub kingdom (@crawlyscubs) February 8, 2019

• The decline in the current CBA era is so freaking stark:

We're more than 100 days into the offseason. Total dollars and AAV again lagging for MLB players https://t.co/KrcMBOCEQL pic.twitter.com/UWJFbb0u3l

— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) February 7, 2019

• Bad news for the Indians, as star shortstop Francisco Lindor suffered a strained calf, and will miss all of Spring Training, and possibly the start of the regular season, too. There might not be a single position player outside of Mike Trout who means as much individually to his club’s potential success, so they’ll need him back and clicking ASAP. This is a reminder that the dreaded Spring Training injuries are coming as guys start to ramp back up. A pitcher *will* blow out his arm. A position guy *will* roll his ankle. Just be ready for it now, and you’ll be in a better place regardless of what actually happens …