Is Dusty Baker a Hall of Famer, Possible Calendar Change, and Other Cubs Bullets

I didn’t *EXPECT* ‘Westworld’ to get a fifth season, but I definitely hoped it would. The first two seasons were outstanding, the third was a clunker, and then the fourth was a solid rebound. Just one more and that would’ve been swell. But I understand that the show quickly became not-for-everyone, and it was probably incredibly expensive to make. So the fourth season was its last, and it has been cancelled. Wah.

  • The 2022 MLB season COULD be over tonight. The Houston Astros lead the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 in the World Series, with Game Six tonight in Houston. If the Astros win, the season is over, and the offseason begins apace tomorrow (with free agents officially becoming free agents the day after the World Series ends). If the Phillies win, then the season will instead end on Sunday – one way or another – and the offseason begins on Monday.
  • I believe this is the latest the season has ended in recent memory, which, as we discussed with the offseason timeline, is really going to compress a lot of the early activity. I mean, the Rule 5 rostering deadline is now LESS THAN two weeks away. Heck, the GM Meetings start on Monday!
  • Side note: I have now seen two MLB.com articles that state that the tender deadline is November 18, which would be a significant move from its historical spot on December 2. In fact, it would mean the tender deadline – i.e., the date by which to offer contracts to players under control, but not yet under contract, for 2023 – is now the same day as the Rule 5 rostering deadline. Are those articles just inadvertently mixing up the two dates, or has there been a real change? Sure seems like it’s the latter, which is kinda big news!
  • It would actually make some sense for those to be on the same day, and it has ALWAYS made sense to move the tender deadline up, but this was definitely not announced anywhere. Did it change in the new CBA? The full language of the doc is still not publicly available, so it’s possible. Anyway, stay tuned, I guess. If the tender deadline moved up two weeks, that’s going to compress the next 13 days even more!
  • I didn’t realize that 10 of the 11 managers who’d won 2,000 games before this season are in the Hall of Fame, and the only one who isn’t is Bruce Bochy. He WILL be in the Hall of Fame eventually, but he’s still getting after it, now with the Rangers. Dusty Baker joined the ranks of the 2,000-win club this year, which I think is interesting in that context because … is he a no-doubt Hall of Famer like the rest? The answer is PROBABLY yes, but it becomes a definite yes if he and the Astros win this World Series. I know Cubs fans have a complicated relationship with the Dusty years, but I don’t think there’s any question that the guy knows how to put his players in a position to succeed over the course of a season.
  • For his part, Baker knows that this is the last thing he needs to accomplish: “I mean, I got 2,000 wins and all they talk about is I haven’t won the World Series yet, you know?” he said, per MLB.com. “So, yeah, it matters. It matters to the people. It matters to us.”
  • The wild thing is that Dusty Baker could win this World Series, and then not be retained by the Astros. It’s not because he wants to retire yet – he flat out said that if he wins this one, he wants to win another one – but it is instead because Baker’s boss, Astros GM James Click, is not yet assured of returning. There are apparently conflicts there with Astros owner Jim Crane, so you could have a situation where an incredibly successful GM and a Hall of Fame manager together win the World Series … and then get booted.
  • Crazy and fun and cool and can we call it the Shroud of Philadelphia:
  • The Players Choice award winners were announced:
  • Ah, this kind of offseason drama … feed it to me:
  • Seeing Anthony Rizzo twerk on live television is a moment that might never be topped:
  • YES:
  • Some progress for Lonzo Ball:
  • Surprising early-season success for the Blackhawks:
  • I’ll never pass up an opportunity to watch Devin Hester highlights:
  • If you’ve ever thought about a tablet for your kids, the kids Fire Tablets at Amazon are up to 50% off right now. #ad
  • 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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