Another Cubs Minor League Team Clinches, Voluntary Union Recognition, Old Friend Hangs ‘Em Up, and Other Cubs Bullets

Sep 10, 2022

The two bigger kids both have friends over right now, and the place is a ZOO. Forgive the typos that occur as I’m dodging pillows and haranguing for misbehaviors.

Another Chicago Cubs affiliate officially clinches, with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies now on their way to the postseason, joining the Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans and High-A South Bend Cubs. For the Smokies, the playoffs start in 10 days.

The Tennessee Smokies have clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2013!! See you on September 20 at Smokies Stadium for Game One of the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/Riw8aBN06f— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) September 10, 2022

For the first time since 2013, the Tennessee Smokies are headed to the playoffs! 🍾

(📸: @b_windy20) pic.twitter.com/EpsX3ExwMo— Cubs Zone (@CubsZone) September 10, 2022

After another big game yesterday, Nico Hoerner has a really interesting set of numbers over the past month: .275/.336/.433/116 wRC+, 7.6% BB, 9.9% K, .158 ISO, .288 BABIP. Why is that interesting to me? Well, having the strikeout rate under 10% while still posting a solid ISO is pretty awesome, and still walking at a good clip, too. All with a BABIP that seems artificially low for him, and an overall level of production that is 16% better than league average. You just take it all together, and it paints the picture of a guy who is seeing the ball really well right now, and has exceptional contact ability, while still able to make hard contact.

This year’s Cubs Hall of Fame inductees are going in today:

The #Cubs Hall of Fame welcomes three new members today.

Buck O’Neil
José Cardenal
Pat Hughes pic.twitter.com/5JMOWYgVBm
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 10, 2022

I did not see this coming, but it seems like really good news: MLB is going to voluntarily recognize minor league players joining the MLB Players Association, rather than force an election battle.

Tony Clark's statement on today's minor league unionization news: "We are pleased Major League Baseball is moving forward with this process in a productive manner. While there are significant steps remaining, we are confident discussions will reach a positive outcome."— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) September 10, 2022

This is a major step in a major story, and gets things all the closer to minor leaguers having full bargaining authority. At a minimum, this hopefully avoids another miserable and public labor-related fight at a time when fans have gotta still be exhausted by that stuff from the pandemic negotiations and then the lockout. This is still a process that has to play out over time, and it’ll be a little while before minor league players are officially in the union. There are going to be a ton of questions from there that have to be sorted out (so, do minor league players immediately have to negotiate their own CBA? what will the player priorities be? how does it impact the big league players? what is within minor league players’ ability to negotiate, rather than big league players? for example, who is “in charge” of the players’ side of the draft? how do you coordinate on shared interests? so on and so on).

As noted by Drellich, and further underscored here by Maury Brown, it’s not like MLB is doing this ENTIRELY altruistically:

One thing seems near certain: with MLB recognizing the new MiLB bargaining unit under the PA it pretty much neuters Congress going after antitrust exemption due to MiLB pay and working conditions given those areas will now be collectively bargained.— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) September 10, 2022

Friends just having fun:

Christopher Morel and Willson Contreras try to get @suzuki_seiya_sb to do “YMCA” during a pitching change. @Cubs @BleacherNation @realcubsinsider @obvious_shirts @BTYLPodcast pic.twitter.com/9BREMY4mpM— MBDChicago (@MBDChicago) September 10, 2022

If you were curious whether teams could play with their “infield dirt” in order to get around the new anti-shifting rules, they can’t really do that – at least not a ton:

Teams still have some discretion, with these requirements:
• 95-foot radius from center of pitcher's plate
• avg distance of grass line of outer boundary of infield dirt has to be less than 96 feet, more than 94
• no individual measurement more than 96 feet or less than 94 https://t.co/Ql2pE5yQUv— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) September 8, 2022

This is finally the end of a really remarkable – using that word in a variety of senses – career for Edwin Jackson:

17 seasons, 14 teams, 412 games, 1,960 innings. Edwin Jackson calls it a career.https://t.co/0IUQBFU19j pic.twitter.com/ZN46VoGMSl
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) September 10, 2022

Obviously the signing with the Cubs did not go well, but it’s kinda crazy that, even after things bottomed out in that 2014 season, Jackson still managed to pitch another FIVE big league seasons with NINE teams. He was still trying to make a go of it post-pandemic, but, outside of a stint in Independent Ball in 2021, the opportunities didn’t come. So he officially hangs ’em up, writing on Instagram:

“19 years ago today I was blessed with an opportunity to tie up my laces and step on the field to make my debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Today I am happily hanging up my cleats and closing a 22-year baseball career …. This game has taught me many life lessons and allowed me to evolve into the person I am today! I will forever have memories that will live within me from the game I love and dedicated my life to. Thank you baseball for an amazing life experience I will never forget.”

The moment when the outfielder realizes what he’s done:

Hey @Jomboy_ and @FoolishBB, not sure who to credit this RBI to, but it's 4-2 Smokies in the bottom of the 2nd! pic.twitter.com/qCoNNWpgtE— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) September 10, 2022

Read at FanGraphs about the two young superstars in NPB absolutely dominating Japan: slugging third baseman Munetaka Murakami, and righty ace Roki Sasaki. Each is still years away from a jump to MLB, if it happens, but in the meantime, they’re just doing absolutely silly things at ages 22 and 20, respectively.

written by

Brett Taylor

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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