NEWSLETTER
The Cubs-Cardinals postponement is bad for all kinds of reasons, but a very small personal silver lining is that I have been a little under the weather the last couple days, and getting some extra sleep (instead of game coverage until midnight my time) is gonna help.
• I wonder if we’ll get word of the Cubs arranging additional workouts at Wrigley Field today and tomorrow, now that there is no series in St. Louis. I anticipate they’ll do something, at least to keep the bats fresh on seeing live pitching. There’s a big question now on how the Cubs decide to coordinate their rotation. With four days off, they can pretty much do whatever they want, including completely swapping starters around so that their preferred options go against the Brewers next weekend rather than the Indians this week. All the games matter greatly, of course, but the ones against the Brewers are slightly more important. Of course, it’s a four-game set, so you’ll miss only one of your starters anyway – whoever starts game two against the Indians. If the rotation simply holds, it’d be Jon Lester and Alec Mills going Tuesday and Wednesday, which would mean Mills is the guy who misses the Brewers and gets game one in the next series (which is supposed to be against the Cardinals …).
• Speaking of the Cardinals, we always make jokes about them getting competitive balance picks, but seriously, if they lose a chunk of their season, they’re totally going to be gifted additional picks for some reason:
In the March agreement, there is language about the 2021 MLB Draft order:
“In the event that each Club plays less than 81 regular season games in 2020, the Office of the Commissioner shall have the right, after conferring in good faith with the MLBPA, to modify the Draft order.”
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) June 8, 2020
• As for the overall selection order, you hope that it just goes with the usual reverse standings, but who knows. What would suck would be if the league decided to repeat the 2020 draft order for some reason, and you were a team that was terrible this year but great the year before. (The Cubs picked right in the middle of the draft, so meh, it’s likely fine for them however this sorts out.)
• My suggestion? Since it’s an unusual, uneven year, why not do reverse standings like usual, but make the draft snake? So the team that picks first overall doesn’t pick again until the end of the second round (and the 30th team picks at the end of the first and the top of the second)? Given what we know about the disproportionate value in the first five or so picks, it’s still better to be picking at the top of the draft, but a snake balances out the fairness a little bit. Frankly, I think the league should go to a snake anyway to assist, however slightly, in the league-wide tanking issue.
• And that statement is, The Cubs should have EXTENNNNNNNNNDED HIMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:
Nick Castellanos is making a statement:
.347/.418/.857
7 home runs
16 RBIs pic.twitter.com/oF7I1Sqsn1— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 8, 2020
• What could have been. Sigh. The Cubs front office wanted Castellanos back. Castellanos really wanted back. But the money was not made available because of the luxury tax plan (a plan that almost certainly no longer matters because the Cubs won’t be going over next year anyway). Now, if you want to dream big, you dream that Castellanos decides to opt out of his deal with the Reds (three years and $48 million remaining), and then also dream that the Cubs decide to be the team that gives him more than that to sign.
• Hey, maybe with the DH in effect going forward (well, probably), you don’t talk yourself out of Castellanos because of the defensive positioning. And maybe the sides still really dig each other, and want to have these talks. Maybe all the good maybes. But I still think the money is going to be the big issue. I anticipate belt-tightening for 2021 for the Cubs, despite a bunch of guys being in their final year and the need to sign extension(s) thereafter, thanks to massive revenue losses this year. But we can dream about a world where the Cubs see tons of money falling off the books this and next year, and decide Castellanos is worth it on a four-year, $70-$75 million deal or something. Estimating contracts right now is basically impossible, but Castellanos got less than that before his age 28 season (albeit with a couple extremely player-friendly opt-outs built in), so what does he see before his age 29 season? I anticipate revisiting this conversation later in the season.
• Comic books, toys, tools, and body scrubs are among the Deals of the Day at Amazon. #ad
• The numbers are all early, but we should be tracking this closely given the concerns that already should’ve been in place about Nico Hoerner’s readiness:
Through 38 plate appearances – it's early! – Nico Hoerner's performance looks exactly like what you would've feared coming into season: .235/.289/.265, 7.9% BB rate, 18.4% K rate, .029(!) ISO, 64.3%(!) GB rate, and 59 wRC+. Cubs have to watch him closely. https://t.co/czFM4JQG0U
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 8, 2020
• Happy birthday to this 31-year-old kid:
From one big Cubs fan to another.
Happy birthday, @ARizzo44! pic.twitter.com/YbV4F2eQak
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 8, 2020
