Deadline Day, Pitching Infrastructure Changes, New Iowa Cubs Logo, and Other Cubs Bullets

Today is the deadline for players to accept or reject Qualifying Offers, which has already spurred activity: Noah Syndergaard reportedly wanted to sign by yesterday so that he’d have time to take/pass/fail his physical before today. If the deal with the Angels didn’t go through, then he could just accept the Qualifying Offer from the Mets today. The Angels deal did go through, though.

There’s not a ton of mystery today, with borderline guys like Justin Verlander, Raisel Iglesias, and Brandon Belt generally expected to reject their QO’s today. Then we wait to see if the market picks up steam after this week’s deals so far, or whether guys like Eduardo Rodriguez, Jose Berrios (an extension, but long-term), and Noah Syndergaard were just unique, one-off situations where a signing made sense pre-CBA expiration. I tend to think we’re going to see some more activity from here …

•   More from pitching coach Tommy Hottovy on his new assistant pitching coach, Daniel Moskos (via Cubs.com): “His background as a player, playing in the Major Leagues, plus his knowledge from what he learned [at Driveline] — how to use information, how to maximize pitch grips and shapes, how to make minor tweaks and stuff like that — I think he’s really going to bring a unique perspective of what we can do. The amount of information that is available to a Major League pitching coach now is insane. So I think having — from from my perspective — guys that can really support our group and own one area … it’ll make us the best version of ourselves and get the best version of the players that we can.”

•   Speaking of which, the Cubs had indicated they were looking to rethink their pitching infrastructure a bit, and now we have a little more sense of what they’ve meant by that. It’s not just that strategy coach Mike Borzello and assistant director of run prevention Brad Mills are departing and needed replaced, it’s that the Cubs actually wanted to change the responsibilities a bit: “[T]he Cubs are looking for different ways to more evenly divvy up the daily game-planning, maintenance and development duties. Hottovy said Alex Smith, the team’s assistant director of Major League data and development, will continue to search for information and trends on both the pitching and hitting side. With Moskos now in the fold, Hottovy and bullpen coach Chris Young can better focus on their own areas of expertise.” Take it all together, and it sounds maybe like more hands-on work with the pitchers? A little more ongoing developmental focus? Moskos on pitch design and grips, Hottovy on mechanics and physical stuff, Young on bullpen work? Something like that?

•   The Iowa Cubs have revealed a new alternate logo, and I’m a fan of the Cubs affiliates using more bear-related paraphernalia (where their name doesn’t otherwise preclude it):

•   More than a decade later, the tax case involving the sale of the Chicago Cubs has more or less been concluded. Remember that whole thing? It’s complicated stuff, but the super simplified version is that the court has determined the Tribune shouldn’t have been able to treat some of the debt ($249 million) involved in the deal as anything other than equity that it received in exchange for something sold (i.e., they should have to pay taxes on that capital gain). In theory, then, the Tribune will have to pay back-taxes on that portion of the gain, and the full price tag will be determined at a later date. This shouldn’t have any impact on the Cubs (or the Ricketts Family, for that matter), because at issue was whether the Tribune properly accounted for its taxes, not the Cubs. Moreover, the Tribune sold its last 5% stake in the team to the Ricketts a few years ago, so the Tribune no longer has any formal connection to the Cubs. Moreover-over, the last time I checked a Tribune SEC filing on this topic (yeah, I was a nerd and did that), the company had reserved funds to pay the IRS in the event of an adverse judgment like this.

•   Gabe Kapler and Kevin Cash are the NL and AL Manager of the Year winners.

•   If you’ve been waiting to get a sous vide (who hasn’t!), it’s among your Early Black Friday Deals at Amazon today, together with NFL tailgating gear, carpet cleaners, and more. #ad

•   Skip Schumaker has finally landed exactly where he was always meant to land, on the coaching staff of the Cardinals:

•   A great aerial shot of the even-more-ready football stadium:

•   Don’t get any ideas, Cubs:

written by

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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