NEWSLETTER
Today is a big one. I won’t rehash everything I said last night, but again, the short version is: unless the new offer today from the owners moves significantly toward actually being reasonable, plans for Opening Day will go poof. So to say I’m pretty tense today is quite the understatement. The Grandparents are visiting today because The Little Girl’s birthday is this weekend … I WILL BE CHILL I PROMISE.
• Jeff Passan’s take on the importance of today:
Tomorrow is the most important day yet in baseball's labor battle, one that will chart the course toward opening day — or its postponement. And Rob Manfred is at the center of it all. With the sport on the precipice, can he — and MLB — evolve? Column: https://t.co/tvj5EsfXG6 pic.twitter.com/QbxJGUvWzA
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 11, 2022
• Speaking of things about MLB that are so very frustrating … This issue has been fought for almost a decade(!) now:
MLB argues for minor leaguers to stay unpaid in spring training: "It is the players that obtain the greater benefit from the training opportunities that they are afforded than the clubs, who actually just incur the cost of having to provide that training” https://t.co/md2BqNjr0X
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 12, 2022
• The problem with this issue has always been that there are, unfortunately, good *legal* arguments on MLB’s side. But they should’ve been making the decision at a HUMAN level all along: players are clearly working in the spring. Pay them. The salary improvements last year and the paying-for-housing improvements coming this year are positive steps toward properly taking care of minor league players (and the Cubs’ extended prospect camp was a nice step, too). But that’s all they are: steps. There’s still more that needs to be done to really make sure the value of these players – and their basic needs as humans – are properly considered.
• This is an interesting addendum to Boddy’s recent note about minor league pitching that underperformed expected stats (the Cubs were one of the most extreme, where you would’ve expected much better results). The Cubs did not rate well by Stuff+:
Why does Stuff+ matter? Specifically, do organizations who develop nasty arsenals in their pitchers get better results in the minor leagues?
Answer: You bet they do.
Take a look at the orgs in 2021 who had the best… and the worst… pitching arsenals by Stuff+. pic.twitter.com/MOfhouWsJn
— Kyle Boddy (@drivelinebases) February 11, 2022
• Some things to note in there: because of the nature of minor leagues, you could rate low overall on an evaluation of your stuff, but still have a good crop of actual pitching prospects; the correlation there between results and stuff isn’t quite as strong as the line makes it look, because of the two data points at the far right and because of the condensed Y axis. It’s definitely a correlation, and since we know Stuff+ is evaluating pitch quality, it’s not like you don’t WANT to be really good at Stuff+. It isn’t the only thing that matters, of course.
• You’ve got just one day left to take advantage of the various Super Bowl betting promos. That link there is a good place to peruse the various options for those of you in states where it’s legal, but it currently looks like the best one is the Casesars deposit and free bet bonus. Up to $1500 in deposit bonus and up to $616 in free bets.
• Absolutely obliterated. Lord it’s good to have baseball/softball highlights back:
Day 1 and we might have the pimp job of the year pic.twitter.com/s2dsuEYZfi
— Matt Fassnacht (@fuzznacht) February 11, 2022
• No waste pitches:
Since they started tracking this info in 1988, no one but Randy Johnson has struck out more batters on 3 pitches than Greg Maddux. https://t.co/6oNg9dPDoF
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) February 11, 2022
• Ah, this one did … uh … not work out so great:
1 year ago today, the #Cubs signed Jake Arrieta to a 1-year deal. pic.twitter.com/V5AMf2Rdxh
— Cubs Zone ™️ (@CubsZone) February 12, 2022
• If you’re an IHOP fan, you can get 20% off a gift card today at Amazon, among the Deals of the Day. #ad
• Feels like a lifetime ago:
Photo of the good old days, all the way back to spring of 2019. Why does it seem like an eternity?
A #Cubs packed house at Sloan Park – Rizzo up, Schwarber on-deck. Hadn't missed playoffs since 2014. My god, that world was less than 3 years ago. pic.twitter.com/I2JxY07TYy
— Tim Sheridan (@BoysOfSpring) February 11, 2022
• An addition to last night’s report about the White Sox requiring vaccination and boosters for their minor leaguers:
The White Sox not only are requiring minor leaguers to show proof of receiving the COVID-19 booster vaccine, but also will refuse to release any player who declines to comply. Story with @JRFegan. https://t.co/ZLQh8ETak8
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 12, 2022
• I am fine with organizations choosing to require vaccination, but the idea that the White Sox might hold a player – suspended, essentially – rather than release him, seems … I don’t know, there’s something about that hits me wrong at a gut level.
