NEWSLETTER
Well, OK, so, I guess we can now really say that pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in two weeks? That’s wild.
• I’m not shocked the players rejected MLB’s offer to bump the season back (among other things), and I’m not even necessarily shocked they didn’t counter. I’m also not shocked that MLB immediately responded by saying, OK, that’s that, the season starts on time and it’ll just be standard rules. But, in full parent voice, I say: I am very disappointed. For health and safety reasons, I think a delay to the start of the season was quite wise, and good for all sides. For entertainment reasons, I think expanded playoffs and a universal DH are good for the sport. And for financial reasons, I think coming to an agreement could’ve meant more money for the players who lost a lot last year (ditto the owners).
• I was rolling all of this around in my brain as I half-slept last night, and what I think maybe we’re dealing with is a situation where both sides know that their next negotiations – the CBA expires this year – are going to be dramatically more important than anything for the 2021 season, specifically. So they are especially reluctant to demonstration anything but sheer might right now, wanting to make sure the other side knows they aren’t going to be soft when it comes to the much more important CBA negotiations. This is especially true for the players, who unquestionably have to gain a lot of ground in the next CBA, after getting whooped in the last one. I say that not as a homer for the players, but because I think a better balance is good for the long-term health of the sport (and, thus, for the fans – the people for whom I’m actually a homer). So if the players decided they had to dig in their heels on 2021 to give themselves a better shot in the CBA negotiations, so be it. I really don’t like it. But I could understand it.
• … oh, but also? You should plan on a work stoppage for at least the first part of next year. It seems almost impossible to imagine a world where a new CBA is in place by December, which means the current one will expire, and which means there will just be fighting and fighting throughout December, January, and February of next year. (Want to see another slow offseason of transactions?) Then you’ll probably have the owners locking the players out and saying don’t bother reporting to Spring Training. The players will dig in for a long wait with the war chests they’ve built up, and both sides will wait for the other to blink. Best guess is we’d get another shortened season, but it’ll mark the third straight season where things are not “normal” for the fans, and will probably be the worst feeling one of the three, since it’ll have been the third in a row, it’ll be after the pandemic, and it’ll be a pure fight about money. At a time when fandom is already challenged by a continuously evolving entertainment landscape. So, you know, maybe think ahead about that, MLB? How much is avoiding that worth to you?
• Meanwhile, now we wait to see if any of the modified rules can be agreed to eventually. It’s too late now to get back to the table to adjust the season, as MLB’s announcement indicated. But it’s not at all too late to do expand rosters to account for COVID absences if necessary, to do the runner-on-second-base thing, to do the seven-inning double-header thing, or even to do the DH thing. They could also expand the playoffs, of course – last year, they agreed to do it the day before the dang season started – but that’ll just require a side financial agreement. Since that doesn’t have to be decided immediately like the season schedule did, I actually expect the owners to make another run at it maybe next month. It’s so valuable to them.
• Back to the nearer-term, God bless Mike Petriello for trying to make an argument for each NL Central team (besides the Pirates) as the division favorite, but to me it is pretty clearly the Cardinals at this moment, particularly because I am assuming Yadi Molina re-ups quite soon. For the Cubs, the argument is basically this: if the guys in the lineup perform like they COULD perform, then the offense is going to be really good, and maybe good enough to overcome the pitching. We’ve seen that argument before, though, and yet the pitching has actually been quite good the last few years. This year, it’s hard to see the pitching being better than “acceptable” overall, and it’ll take big bounces back from all of Kris Bryant, Javy Báez, and Anthony Rizzo for the Cubs to put together a great offensive year (which also assumes no drop-off from guys like Ian Happ, Jason Heyward, Joc Pederson, and Willson Contreras). It’s like, yeah, I can see all the great names who’ve had great seasons. But will they all click at the same time?
• … it would help if the Cubs made an impactful offensive addition at second base. Gonna keep banging that drum until the offseason is up. Oh, also? It’s still possible that someone is traded away.
• Not that you couldn’t already tell, but the return in the Nolan Arenado trade is a joke:
new post for subscribers to @TheAthletic – the Cardinals get Nolan Arenado and the Rockies just don’t get anywhere near enough in return: https://t.co/FSLoKnpI9n
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) February 2, 2021
• The intro says a lot: “The Rockies just traded one of the five best players in franchise history, one with an argument that he was in fact the best, for one of the weakest returns I have ever seen for a player of this magnitude and impact.”
• Can’t help but do stupid tweets:
Folks, a source provided me a copy of the note: https://t.co/pqY6DnfGSt pic.twitter.com/UbWdOOAAEE
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) February 2, 2021
• Snack foods, clothes, carpet cleaners, and more are your Deals of the Day at Amazon today. #ad
• Great win for the Bulls last night, who keep getting connected to Lonzo Ball in trade rumors:
Chicago Bulls Rumored as a “Possibility” for Lonzo Ball Tradehttps://t.co/UZSH4ZnpHQ
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) February 1, 2021
