Raising Minor League Pay Can Be a Competitive Advantage, MVP Grace, and Other Cubs Bullets

As part of my MCU binge, I just watched ‘The Incredible Hulk’ for the first time yesterday, and I can definitely now see why it has largely been regarded as very “inessential” in the MCU storyline. It was the second flick in the series (after ‘Iron Man’) and it had various production issues, so I guess I can give it a pass for being so clunky. But it just doesn’t feel like one of the other MCU movies. There’s no feeling. No humor. No sense of the characters as people whatsoever. It’s just bad. People told me I could skip it, but I wanted to be thorough. But, yeah, you can absolutely skip it. The Mark Ruffalo version of Hulk is way better anyway.

• Cody Bellinger and Mike Trout are your league MVPs. You could have made arguments for the other finalists, by and large, but these are the two I would have voted for. Hopefully the Cubs have a finalist or two or three next year. That’d be wild.
• It is very disappointing to me that other teams – especially the Cubs – did not follow the Blue Jays’ lead on this, but good on the Blue Jays and good for these very happy players:

When the #BlueJays increased minor league salaries by 50% this year, they felt it was a small gesture. But for the players, it was incredibly impactful and something they hope to see other clubs do: https://t.co/yGSF7zeRs3

— Alexis Brudnicki (@baseballexis) November 14, 2019

• I mean, read the player reactions in there and tell me it isn’t absolutely insane that other organizations aren’t doing this. The raise changed their lives. I mean, you can even set aside the “just do the right thing” aspect of it, and look at it solely as a competitive advantage: the players are all talking about how much more they can now afford (literally) to focus on baseball, particularly in the offseason. Isn’t that a valuable part of your player development program?
• Some back-of-the-napkin math using average roster sizes and the minor league pay figures from here, bumping the entire minor league system 50% might cost $1 million or less. Think about that. Guys in full-season A-ball currently make about $6,000 to $8,000 for the entire year. Really wrap your head around this stuff – that’s how organizations are taking care of their valuable player assets?
• The Cubs apparently discussed this internally last March … but nothing happened. Missed opportunity, and a borderline inexcusable one for an organization trying to find every edge down on the farm.
• Heads up for the London Series next year:

https://twitter.com/BaseballBrit/status/1195100332604428289

• This is so awesome, and I can’t wait to see/read it:

It’s been 2 years, but I would like to talk about what happened in the 2017 WS, the Dodgers, my own confusion, and my thoughts via my YouTube channel. @dylanohernandez will be translating the content for an article as well.

— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) November 15, 2019

• Bryan is going to have more on Mekkes soon, as he’s such a challenging prospect to pin down:

Reviewing Dakota Mekkes video and finding that his changeup really improved late in the season. Here, on August 23, you see something I’ve never seen from him: two strike changes versus right-handed hitters. Including one on a full count! pic.twitter.com/lA0M03tdiH

— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) November 14, 2019

• If Brennen Davis is not a consensus top 100 prospect, it sounds like it won’t be because of ability and performance, but instead it will be the injuries that kept him from playing many games last year. I guess that’s fair, but it’s also like … the kid was raw coming out of high school as a two-sport athlete, made absurd adjustments to his body and his swing in his first pro offseason, and then was the best hitter in the Midwest League as a 19-year-old in his first full professional season. I’m pretty comfortable, despite the fluke HBP injuries, projecting him as a top 100 prospect heading into next year. Easily.
• It isn’t *solely* about the wrist injury in 2016 and then the subsequent ways it destroyed his swing, but man … look at this:

Remember when Jason Heyward couldn't hit a RHP fastball to save his life? Glad that's done with pic.twitter.com/g2FxEB7H5C

— Cooper (@RushingBaseball) November 13, 2019

 

• There are ways to celebrate a player’s great season with grace and joy, and then there’s … this:

https://twitter.com/Brewers/status/1195122543092490240

• You’ll note that when Javy Baez finished second to Yelich last year, we all acknowledged it was deserved, and celebrated Javy’s great year. (Ditto #AtCubs for that matter.) Bellinger won the MVP, and he deserved it.
• Just a reminder of my opinion when the Shogo stuff comes up:

I understand why folks draw those parallels, because Japanese hitters do grow up in a different style and the translation to MLB is tough. However, these are very different types of hitters – Shogo also not being signed as a star – and also, Fukudome had a nice .369 OBP w/Cubs. https://t.co/PpnFndJEAv

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) November 15, 2019

• Baseball-connected promotion:

You know this crew of ballplayers? Well, they're on Disney+, too. You can sign up for a free trial and support BN in the process, which means you rock: https://t.co/xLE1QtC5rA pic.twitter.com/bIvzEl3ful

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) November 15, 2019