My phone just started doing a weird thing overnight, basically telling everyone who texts me that I have notifications turned off … except I don’t. So that’ll be a fun bug to try to sort out today.
• The more I’ve thought about it, I am very concerned that news of the latest proposal on economics from MLB will be met with some serious mudslinging from the players’ side, and this whole thing is about to turn into another shitfest. I wasn’t expecting the owners to propose something obviously acceptable three weeks out from the CBA expiration, but the failure to move off of the untenable hard cutoff of free agency at 29.5 years old is really concerning. If they had at least dropped the age a year or presented the age cutoff as one of two alternative paths to free agency (X age or Y service time, whichever comes first), then I could see some positive movement toward a resolution.
• As Maury Brown writes, when MLB first proposed this kind of setup – a scrapping of arbitration in favor of another way to pay younger players and free agency at 29.5 years old – it was viewed as a “moonshot,” unlikely to get any real traction. But the fact that MLB came back with the same kind of setup two months later suggests they really do want to radically overhaul the system in a way that is hard to say is a win for the players. We have all already been concerned about a work stoppage coming, but I mean, it’s impossible to wake up this morning not feeling like it’s even more of a lock than it was.
• To that end, we’re already starting to think about timelines for a lockout. Realistically, if you want to have a period for the “offseason” and then have players get to Spring Training with a normal and safe ramp-up period, a new deal has to be in place by about February 1. Any time after that, and you risk creating problems for the players (and then later than that, you risk losing Spring Training games and/or impacting the start of the regular season). Man I am now dreading December and January. Usually it’s a very fun time of the offseason calendar. Sigh.
• You can’t keep up with all the damage Nelson Velazquez is doing in the AFL:
Nelson Velazquez remains red-hot in the desert.
The @Cubs’ No. 29 prospect blasts his AFL-leading ninth home run. pic.twitter.com/xtKsre4CH4
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) November 12, 2021
• Listen to the sound. Just listen:
Nelson Velasquez hits nukes! 🚀
The #Cubs 22-year-old breakout prospect has NINE 💣’s this Fall after 20 in 103 games b/t A+ & AA. An incredibly powerful athlete with a cannon for an arm 💪🇵🇷 @ProspectsLive pic.twitter.com/baHPLBlz8f
— Jacob Zweiback (@TheReelJZ) November 12, 2021
• Velazquez is up to a .371/.481/.742 slash line, and his 1.223 OPS leads the league by nearly 150 points (lol). If you missed yesterday’s Cubs prospect notes, tons more on Velazquez, and just how “real” we can consider what he’s doing. The strikeouts/contact rate are a serious concern as he develops, but you LOVE the trajectory this year:
Yeah, AA + AFL is, in 245 PA:
.324 AVG (69 hits, nice)
.412 OBP
.648 SLG11 BB% / 25.7 K%
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) November 12, 2021
• The Silver Sluggers were announced, and the Cubs’ lone finalist – Patrick Wisdom – did not win. The winners list was a reminder that, for all the attention that Braves pitching and outfield trades got this year, their infield was ridiculous:
Presenting the 2021 NL Silver Sluggers 👏 pic.twitter.com/pS2l8ZtK1Y
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 12, 2021
Presenting the 2021 AL Silver Sluggers 👏 pic.twitter.com/CmZejIfZ5O
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 12, 2021
• If you ever wanted to look back on which prospects were signed in which Cubs IFA class:
https://twitter.com/CubsCentral08/status/1459128447050076162
• This Luis Castillo two-seamer was perfect:
2021 PitchingNinja Award for the Prettiest Pitch 😍🏆
Winners:
Luis Castillo (single pitch) 💯
Corbin Burnes (season) ✂️Watch the Full Award YouTube Video & hit Subscribe!
Link –> https://t.co/1iKWIprFFA pic.twitter.com/dJKxpD952l
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) November 11, 2021
• Dick Butkus ain’t messing around:
Dick Butkus Shreds the Bears and Encourages George McCaskey to Make “Drastic” Changeshttps://t.co/CCg8LnpDwZ
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) November 11, 2021
• The timing for the Bulls and Vooch (he was finally turning it on) is as bad as it can get:
Nikola Vucevic Reportedly Tested Positive for COVID-19, Will Miss Multiple Gameshttps://t.co/oWexHlAYiF
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) November 11, 2021
• Meanwhile, the Bulls might have to start thinking about opportunities they can jump on:
With Patrick Williams Out for the Season, Could Marvin Bagley III Make Sense for the Bulls?https://t.co/r7Flh5Kn3O pic.twitter.com/6MQo3Pogrr
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) November 11, 2021