Happ Wants to Spice Up the Offseason, Tebow Was the Worst Hitter (But Isn’t Done Yet), and Other Cubs Bullets

For whatever reason, The Little Boy got me started talking about the nature of existence and the big questions and that stuff last night, and he was fascinated by the possibilities. It went a whole bunch of weird directions, but at one point, I had occasion to offer the great stoner point of our age: “Maybe we’ve had this conversation before.” You shoulda seen his face. It’s cliche to most of us at this point to the point of being a joke, but I realized there’s a first time you hear such a thing and it totally blows your mind. I got to see that in him. It was wild. So much opened up to him in that moment.

•   It didn’t used to be this way, and it doesn’t *have* to be this way – but since most teams have become obsessed with cost-certainty the last few years and are content to let free agents wait things out, Ian Happ is spot on here:

Ian Happ believes the salary arbitration process needs to be moved up from January to earlier in the offseason because MLB teams want cost certainty and don't get aggressive in free agency until they have that certainty.

"It makes the offseason pretty boring," Happ says.

— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) November 24, 2020

•   To be sure, I’m fine with MLB’s traditionally slower-burning free agency than the NBA and the NFL, but what it’s become is way too far in the other direction. Free agency opens up at the start of November, and then you have MAYBE some big-time signings a month later, and then some really notable guys not signing until February+. Seems like it would be more fun for fans, more exciting for the sport, and better for the players, if free agency mostly shook out from like mid-November to mid-December. Try to really own that shorter space from a transactional perspective.*

•   *(Note that I’m totally speaking against my own interests here, because it helps me with #Content to have things stretched out through February. But, even as I personally enjoy doing the coverage over those months, I know that it isn’t necessarily the best thing for everyone else.)

•   More offseason spice-up from Happ:

This is the content we need https://t.co/U3JVUizD6i

— Ian Happ (@ihapp_1) November 24, 2020

•   Jed has jokes about his time as Theo’s side-sitting GM:

Jed Hoyer: "Whoever my GM is, I'm going to make them sit at that podium and not get any questions asked of them. That's an important part of their humility. I can't tell you how many times Theo made fun of me after those press conferences for my potted plant impression."

— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) November 24, 2020

•   The Mets have encouraged 33-year-old outfielder-ish Tim Tebow to come back in 2021. Sandy Alderson says it’s because they don’t want to see the COVID year be the end of the line for him, which is fair, and I do want to credit Tebow for sticking with the minor leagues thing for four+ years now. But it’s been hard not to be cynical about the whole thing from the Mets perspective all along – here’s how Alderson put it to the Post: “I think that the organization has already benefited significantly from his involvement with the Mets and his pursuit of a baseball career. I think the Mets have benefited, I think baseball has benefited. As I said, this is not something that will go on forever. At some point it will lose its cachet or the interest of fans. But I couldn’t be happier with the way Tim has conducted himself as not only a teammate but a representative of the Mets. So given all that, he’s entitled to another shot post-COVID. And I’m happy he’s coming back.”

•   Tebow reached AAA in 2019, which is to say he was gifted a spot, where he hit .163/.240/.255. His 26 wRC+ was the worst – by far – among all players with at least 250 PAs at AAA, and it was tied for the worst wRC+ among ALL PLAYERS IN ALL OF AFFILIATED BALL. The guy he was tied with? An 18-year-old playing way above his head at Low-A. So, in a very real way, Tim Tebow was the single worst professional hitter in 2019. He’s since missed a year because of COVID, and he’ll turn 34 in August. I think the “new” Mets are going to give him a look in the Spring, maybe let him play at AA/AAA for a few weeks, and tell him it’s time.

•   I want to go to there:

View of a @Cubs game from the roof. #WrigleyField

Believe this is around 1988. pic.twitter.com/nz4JCTNZKl

— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) November 24, 2020

•   Awesome stuff right here:

Taiwan’s first baseball/softball fields for people with disabilities opens in New Taipei City https://t.co/5yWpnmWiqa @ctba #GlobalSport #GlobalGame #Development

— WBSC #Baseball ⚾ #Tokyo2020 (@WBSC) November 23, 2020

•   Get ready for tomorrow by sharing your Mount Rushmore:

That’s it. Give me your Thanksgiving Mount Rushmore.

⛰ Turkey
⛰ Stuffing
⛰ Cheesy Potatoes
⛰ Sweet Potato Casserole

— Brett Taylor (@Brett_A_Taylor) November 24, 2020