Got about five hours sleep last night after about five hours sleep the night before. Usually, the back-to-back short sleeps are what crush me, but knock on wood, I’m feeling pretty good today. That said, it would probably help me tonight if the Cubs did something REALLY SPICY to get the juices flowing around 9 to 10pm ET. Coffee can do only so much …
- Speaking of which, thanks to the reporting of the last 24 hours, if the Cubs don’t land a significant free agent or two this offseason, it’s gonna be a RAGE FIRE in these parts. Might be unfair, given the unpredictability of free agency, but it’s just the reality now. It would be pretty hard to blame any fans that got extremely fired up.
- The first ever MLB Draft Lottery is tonight at 7:30pm CT, and you may recall that the Cubs have a teeny-tiny chance of getting the top pick, a 10%-ish chance of getting a top-6 pick, and an extremely strong chance at landing at 12 or 13. So basically, you should expect 12 or 13, and if the Cubs wind up in the top-6, you should – as I will – proclaim loudly that MLB totally RIGGED IT for the Cubs, and they want the Cubs to win again!
- In his appearance on Marquee last night, I once again enjoyed hearing Cubs manager David Ross talk about his role in the recruitment of free agents. He’s just so uniquely positioned to help and to connect with free agents because, not only does he have the recent experience of being a player AND in a front office AND as a manager, and not only does he have the ability to connect well with position players AND pitchers, but he also has recent experience as a player specifically playing for the Cubs. He can speak to so much of what it’s like to actually come to Chicago as a player in free agency, and then live that life.
- Have had this tabbed for a bit to note that Patrick Wisdom is still a useful player, however the Cubs might deploy him next year:
- If the Cubs happened to land a lefty bat for first base – or if Matt Mervis emerges quickly – then Wisdom would be a heckuva lefty masher in a platoon. He also has the ability to play in the outfield in a pinch, so even if the Cubs wind up landing a dedicated third baseman, Wisdom can still offer a lot of value.
- Of course, if the Cubs do manage to add multiple infielders, it’ll be interesting to see how the roster sorts out – Wisdom, Christopher Morel, Zach McKinstry, Nick Madrigal, Alfonso Rivas, and Miles Mastrobuoni. The Cubs have a lot of bench/utility types on the 40-man already.
- Random David Ross reminder, via Cubs Productions’ newest video:
- Cat Garcia writes about the continued problem of missing managerial opportunities for Black coaches, and how it hasn’t gotten any better the last few decades:
- Joe Musgrove and Sean Manaea’s trip to Antarctica is a pretty neat offseason story:
- Also, Musgrove did this, which is pretty cool:
- Also, I learned from the googles that if you aren’t going to the actual South Pole, there are areas of Antarctica right now that are actually warmer than Chicago. So, it’s not actually all that cold – just really freaking desolate and beautiful and tricky to get to.
- This makes a lot of sense now that minor leaguers are being brought into the union:
The MLB Shop has a sitewide sale going on today, so if you want to jump on that and do some holiday shopping, here you go: