New Cubs Scouting Chief, Org Fruits of Change, Brewers Roster Overhaul, and Other Cubs Bullets

With the first teaser for ‘Black Widow’ dropping today (popped it at the bottom of this post for those who haven’t seen), indulge me in updating you on my MCU binge.

I watched a trio of Phase Two flicks over the Thanksgiving break on Disney+: ‘Thor: The Dark World,’ ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier,’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ It was actually perfect to see those three together in one chunk, because it really marks – for me – the shift from Phase One a little better than the first movie in Phase Two (‘Iron Man 3’) actually does. This is where the Infinity Stones are actually introduced, it’s where key characters are introduced, it’s where a key tension between security and oppression is introduced. I think ‘The Dark World’ is underrated (yes, it’s thin and the threat being to the entire universe suggests maybe Thor shoulda got some of his buddies involved in the fight, but the movie is fine and fun), I think most folks rightly regard ‘The Winter Soldier’ as one of the best movies in the entire run, and ‘Guardians’ is when the MCU freak flag really started to fly and I love it.

With the non-tender deadline passed, the free agent market complete, and the Winter Meetings next week, even in a “slow” environment for transactions, we’re going to see an acceleration of rumors this week. Hey, and maybe even a move or two!

Really enjoyed this profile at The Athletic on new Cubs VP of Scouting Dan Kantrovitz, who seems to have a very measured approach, but also a specific passion for the draft (for now, though I’d speculate that he’s a candidate for a future promotion in the Cubs’ front office hierarchy). He’s been incredibly successful on the draft front with both the Cardinals and the A’s, and it’s an area where the Cubs could improve (just as they can on the player development side). Kantrovitz’s arrival is a reminder that, while the player development overhaul gets most of the attention, the Cubs are also fundamentally changing things on the scouting side, too.

Speaking of which, the drip-drip nature of these kinds of changes sometimes obscure just how much as been done, but holy crap when you put it in one place how much the Cubs have transformed the organization in just two months:

A new big league manager

Four new big league coaches

Scouting and player development chief moved to big league side

New directors of hitting and pitching roles created

Farm director moved to scouting side

Scouting director becomes farm director

New scouting director

Eight new development hires

Highly doubt the Cubs are finished, either

Obviously the changes to the big league roster remain the most important near-term and most visible thing, but the Cubs are clearly shooting their shot on the organizational side of things. We may not see the results immediately (though it’s not impossible!), but if we aren’t seeing a relative explosion in player development and scouting success in the next few years, we’ll know that this process was a miss. The long tail of these kinds of changes – I’m sorry to say – is kind of annoyingly delayed in that way.

Not sure why it popped into my head as I think about the transformations coming to the Cubs’ roster, but if Pedro Strop is not brought back on a no-risk deal, among the things I will miss about his presence? The best laugh in baseball.

Speaking of roster transformation, the Brewers continued their rapid movement with five non-tenders last night, leaving them staring down upwards of half of their roster looking different:

Gone from Brewers’ 2019 roster: Yasmani Grandal, Mike Moustakas, Drew Pomeranz, Travis Shaw, Chase Anderson, Zach Davies, Junior Guerra, Alex Claudio, Jimmy Nelson and Tyler Saladino. Quite the overhaul.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) December 3, 2019

You look there in isolation and you’re like, holy crap, the Brewers are going to be so much worse in 2020. But we’ll see. They have a lot of money to work with now, they have added interesting young pieces in Luis Urias and Eric Lauer, and they’ll get a full year of Keston Hiura. More on the Brewers later.

Cyber Monday is gone, but Amazon transitions now into its 12 Days of Deals – ’tis the season! – so check it all out here. #ad

Dan Szymborski’s thread here artfully lays out a huge chunk of the case for earlier arbitration and earlier free agency, which are arguably the most important elements of the CBA negotiations in terms of how to dramatically improve the way player dollars are distributed (trying to force teams to spend more in free agency for older players just ain’t it):

Teams are willing to pay very little for that first win from each player. If you think that teams see league-average players as worth $16 million a year, you're not current in-tune with how front offices see value.

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) December 3, 2019

Which, as I talked about endlessly, creates a very interesting situation for the MLBPA. There's no magic bullet to force teams to employ 0.5-win veterans, the Adam Jones types, and pay them handsomely.

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) December 3, 2019

And the question is: how determined will a 35-year-old veteran, who feels screwed by analytics be to strike for the 21-year-old on the 40-man roster for the first time and making the ~$45K optional assignment minimum for a first timer?

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) December 3, 2019

This is no longer the case. Even poorly run teams don't really think players enter their primes at 31 or that HR/RBI uber alles. Which means that the MLBPA has to fight for their revenue pot in different ways.

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) December 3, 2019

Michael with a random bit:

Remember Ben Sheets?

He had an insane 2004 season …

237.0 IP, 8.0 WAR, 2.70 ERA (2.65 FIP); 28.2% strikeout rate, 3.4% walk rate.

He finished 8th in Cy Young voting that season. Lol.

— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) December 3, 2019

Holiday fun arrives at Gallagher Way (while Cubs execs work away in the background):

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1201673992572227585

Black Widow:

"I’m done running from my past." Watch the new teaser trailer for Marvel Studios’ #BlackWidow. In theaters May 1, 2020. pic.twitter.com/Q1BxUz63Dk

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) December 3, 2019