NEWSLETTER
Slept very deeply, but also very crookedly, which means I woke up with neck stiffness and pain like the dickens. Sometimes it feels good and right to cock your head to the side when you’re laying down to fall asleep, but then if you wind up cashing out at that moment, you’re gonna stay in that position waaaaay too long. Or so it was with me last night, apparently.
• It isn’t quite testy just yet, but you’d have to be blind not to see it coming after last summer:
“To be clear, and as we’ve made clear to the league, players are planning on showing up for spring training on time for a full 162-game season as set forth in the CBA and the league’s previously-issued schedule”—MLBPA senior director Bruce Meyer https://t.co/3fvNE3Zrd6
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) December 15, 2020
• That is in response to anonymous owners quoted in a USA Today report suggesting that they want to delay the start of the season to permit vaccinations, which would in turn reduce the length of the season (and the pro rated pay to the players, presumably). As you’d expect, the players aren’t leaping to say, yes, chop off more of my salary again this year! They want 162 games, even if they would agree to be flexible on when it starts.
• From where I sit, like I said yesterday, it’s crystal clear that this is going to become a negotiation on all the financial elements – when the season starts, how many games, rate of pay, DH, expanded postseason, and playoff share for the players – so it’s asinine for the sides not to be in negotiations already (which they are not). It’s also asinine for the sides not to just see that the best outcome here – for healthy and safety, for fan attendance, and for maximizing dollars – is going to be a delayed start to May 1, a schedule of about 150 games, and expanded postseason with a greater share going to the players. Boom. Done. Everyone wins, nobody pisses all over each other in the media, and things are on a good course for the even scarier CBA negotiations.
• … but none of that will actually happen that easily. We saw too much over the summer. The USA Today report and this Athletic response are just the beginning.
• Patrick Mooney has more from Scott Boras and the state of the Cubs if you want more head-scratching mixed metaphors like this: “Certainly for Jed, he’s had the ability to work with a lot of people in baseball. While the ingredients to his recipe were aided by Theo, I assure you that the Chicago pot pie will be different under his theater just by having the authority to put your stamp on things.”
• Ken Rosenthal reports the Super Two qualifiers, who’ll now be eligible for arbitration this offseason, as well as three more years thereafter (it’s a nice salary bump this year, and each subsequent year):
Others who qualified for Super Two status and extra year of arbitration: Yonny Chirinos, Ryan Yarbrough (TB); J.P. Crawford (SEA); Lou Trivino (OAK), AJ. Minter (ATL); Anthony Santander (BAL); Carson Kelly (AZ), Adam Cimber (MIA), Jacob Stallings (PIT); J.D. Davis (NYM). https://t.co/pEPZ99uBgD
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 15, 2020
• Super Two status is based solely on how much service time you have (basically the guys with the most service time over two years, but less than three years). No Cubs this year, which is not a surprise, because there was no one on the bubble for them. Not much in the competitive part of the NL Central either, with Brandon Woodruff being the one notable guy who’ll get a bump, though he was already expected to be a Super Two (projected for $2.3 million in arbitration by MLBTR earlier this offseason).
• Well this is awful:
Omar Vizquel under investigation for allegations of domestic abuse.
"He's not the person you see."
w/ @Ken_Rosenthal: https://t.co/MZ0PGk4fjW
— Katie Strang (@KatieJStrang) December 16, 2020
• Included in there is the previously-unreported news that Vizquel was dismissed by the White Sox last year from his job as the manager of the AA club following an “incident” with a male employee (the implication, I think, is that it was some kind of violent incident). The dismissal came a month before Vizquel’s contract was up, which is apparently why it didn’t make the news, so to speak.
• The next step in the minor league process comes on Friday:
Minor league teams have until Friday to sign NDAs and waive their right to sue MLB if they want to continue forward with the process of becoming part of MLB's 120-team minor league system. I try to explain what minor league teams are thinking. ($)https://t.co/YnIrPrPWxL
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) December 16, 2020
• Bryan with something notable about the state of the Cubs farm system:
This is such a contrast with when I started ranking prospects in system again 3 years ago. The back of the top 20 were relievers and guys that might project as back-end starters.
Of course, the next step is translating upside to Breakouts, which is no given, and no easy feat.
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) December 16, 2020
• It’s really a comment on the Cubs’ clear shift to more upside looks over the past few years. This isn’t quite to say the Cubs’ 7 to 15 ranked prospects are SO MUCH BETTER than a few years ago (though they probably are), because the group might have a lower floor. Bigger risks. But the upside in that chunk of the farm system is really high. The tools are much louder.
• I don’t know what this guy is talking about, because frankly I desperately wish I were in the Wrigley bleachers right now being an idiot with my friends:
“We sell out every game!” Well here’s 75% of the capacity at Wrigley on any given day. pic.twitter.com/brmxG2svnR
— Happy Sox Fan (@southsideordie) December 15, 2020
• Seriously, man. Get that vaccine in me, and get me to Wrigley Field asap.
• Toys, headphones, jewelry, and chargers are among your Deals of the Day at Amazon. #ad
