NEWSLETTER
Thanks for indulging the many reminders about sales this weekend – Black Friday through Cyber Monday is a big time for retailers, which, in turn, means it’s a big time for publishers to say things like, hey, Fanatics kicked off their Cyber Monday sale today, and virtually everything Cubs is on a big sale. So check it out, treat yourself, get some Christmas presents, and support BN in the process!
• A “heavy restart” or “running it back” seem much more plausible to me than “threading the needle” (i.e., being able to make moves to build for the future while simultaneously improving the team for 2021). But what Russell Dorsey correctly reminds us is that even if the Cubs went a route closer to the heavy restart, that doesn’t mean they couldn’t STILL win the NL Central:
Usually I’m not an advocate for trying to retool and compete at the same time, but that may work for the #Cubs.
The NL Central isn’t great and with four of the five teams pretty much the same, why not try to win it?
My latest from @suntimes_sportshttps://t.co/wjv0CZO1XQ
— Russell Dorsey (@Russ_Dorsey1) November 28, 2020
• It’s baseball, so things can surprise you. And obviously nothing has happened yet this offseason, and big moves could theoretically change the picture for these teams. But right now, the NL Central looks like it could be, by far, the worst division in baseball in 2021:
⇒ We just talked yesterday about the rough year the Brewers have had, and unless they get huge bounce-backs from Christian Yelich, Keston Hiura, Avisail Garcia, and … man, I just have no idea where the offense comes from on that team. Throw in the fact that they are going to want to trade Josh Hader, might not have a rotation behind Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes, and probably can’t count on Devin Williams being 2x better than the best other reliever in baseball, and it’s not at all hard to see the Brewers struggling in 2021.
⇒ The Reds are losing Trevor Bauer and reportedly considering offers on Sonny Gray (wut?), have big questions in the rotation behind Luis Castillo, have an infield that’s getting older, and have spent aggressively in recent years (and might be tapped out on major additions).
⇒ The Cardinals might be full of shit, but if they’re not, then they can pretty much only afford to bring back Yadi Molina and Adam Wainwright. They would get Jordan Hicks and Miles Mikolas back next year, but have already lost Dakota Hudson. Most of their key contributors are old at this point. Jack Flaherty had a rough 2020.
⇒ The Pirates could be good eventually after their rebuild, but 2021 looks to be year two in at least a four year process. They will almost certainly stink hard.
• So, about the Cubs, then. I could do a quick little paragraph on how they might stink, too, and that’s before they sell anyone off. But then again, the Cubs did just win the division despite massive underperformances across the positional spectrum. If all five teams ran it back, to me, the Cubs are the clear favorite to win the division on paper. A favorite to go deep in the postseason? Nope. Could see what happens in the dance, though. Sometimes a team catches fire and makes a run.
• … which is not at all to say I endorse just running it back. I don’t. The point instead is more that the Cubs have been blessed with a situation where they could do some heavy restarting to the current roster, then make some targeted additions from what figures to become a deep free agent pool in those marginal types, and if the Cubs can hit on a positional guy like they have relievers, well, boom. Win a crappy division even as you restart. It’s possible thanks to the Central.
• Amazon has started its Cyber Monday early, so poke around here for dealz. #ad
• This is a great read on the last guy to follow a Theo Epstein exit, Ben Cherington, who is incidentally now running the Pirates rebuild – with the focus being Cherington’s (and others’) perspective on the Cubs’ new president:
https://twitter.com/sahadevsharma/status/1332355765592535044
• An interesting little bit from there that I hadn’t really thought much about: unlike Theo Epstein, Hoyer spent time playing baseball in college and then later coaching a little college baseball. It was a long time ago at this point, and it’s quite a bit different than professional baseball, but the point is the perspective it could have provided to Hoyer along the way in his front office development. He’s seen the game from a slightly different angle at a time in his career. No doubt it has helped him in his career, and you wonder how it could manifest itself in subtle ways now that this is his job.
• A random reminder of Shooter. RIP:
You see a picture of a baseball player in the dictionary, and you see Rod Beck. ⚾️ ❤️ pic.twitter.com/PfW1pyMXH4
— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) November 29, 2020
• Jake Paul, who is – to the best of my understanding – a YouTube personality of ill repute, knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson in a boxing match last night, which led to this:
Hey Jake – I would decline. https://t.co/d6U68phhA8 pic.twitter.com/HH1lQwvwVY
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) November 29, 2020
• A great promo for tonight’s Bears-Packers game:
Surely the Bears can score at least once, right? https://t.co/oegLJN552M
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) November 28, 2020
