Ah, the sting of trying to get out the “normal” posts during the Blogathon. It’s hard not only because of limits on time and attention, but also just the focus. My brain is in RUMOR RUMOR TRADE RUMOR TRANSACTION RUMOR PROSPECTS mode, completely. It’s hard to step back and refocus for as long as it takes to put together the Bullets.
But I shall try! OPE WAIT ALL HELL JUST BROKE LOOSE. (That was when Scott Effross got traded. And then Josh Hader. Also the Angels seemingly took Shohei Ohtani off the market. Also the Padres extended Joe Musgrove.)
OK. Back to trying, and I gotta keep this snappy …
As you could sense in his demeanor the last few days, in the hugs last night, and in his comments over the course of the past week, Willson Contreras is just done. No, not done with Cubs or baseball – done with the questions and wondering and worrying and everything attached to the Trade Deadline. “I just want this to be over,” Contreras said after last night’s game, per The Athletic. “If they’re going to trade me, they’re going to trade me. If they don’t want to trade me, they don’t. But I just want this day to pass and keep focused on playing baseball. I just want this to be over.”
More from Contreras on how hard this has all been, via Marquee:
“We’ll see what happens,” Contreras said. “It’s gonna be a long day. It’s been a long, long, long week. A long, long month for me. I’m ready for it to be over.”
Sunday marked Contreras’ 707th game in a Cubs uniform. He has spent nearly half his life — 14 years — in this organization.
The 30-year-old admitted he has been a bit distracted by the impending trade deadline.
“It’s hard because any time that you have a little free time, your mind is going to trade rumors,” Contreras said. “I wish that wasn’t the case, but I won’t lie.”
Bryan with an interesting point about new Cub Zach McKinstry, and the player whose 26-man roster spot he took yesterday:
Hey, Erich Uelmen looked awesome last night. The 26-year-old relief prospect had been dominating at Triple-A, and has quietly been up with the big league team since the All-Star break. Over two innings last night, he really got to show the stuff: a 95-96 mph heavy sinker, a surprisingly great changeup, and a nasty slider with absurd lateral movement:
I suppose when we see a guy like Uelmen come up, it’s a reminder that the Cubs believe they can keep doing this with relief prospects, and it’s a reason to trade Effross when he was so valuable.
Stray realization this morning:
The Rockies remain truly bizarre. They are still upset that Jonathan Gray’s agent helped him … get a better contract from another team? Wut:
Yeah, this looks good:
NEWSLETTER
