I love having some nice old, tall trees in our backyard, and I like the beautiful colors of leaves in the fall. I do not, however, love having to deal with the combination of the two in late October.
Per The Athletic, Craig Breslow was actually very unlikely to take a secondary job with the Red Sox, even if it came with a nominal title promotion. It was top job or bust, so the Red Sox gave him the top job. Clearly, they REALLY wanted Breslow, even if it meant jumping him way up in role and responsibility. They were going to do whatever it took to get him.
And now the Cubs will be tasked with finding a replacement to head up the pitching department, and maybe also a replacement assistant GM. Like I said before, it sucks, but hopefully Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins can view this as an opportunity to hire/promote another wave of front office talent.
Craig Breslow took a weakness that had persisted organizationally for a generation and made massive quantifiable improvements. More importantly, he hired good people and implored them to work around a pitcher’s strengths and not allow blanket philosophies to guide instruction.— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) October 25, 2023
In addition to hiring Bob Melvin as their new manager through 2026, the San Francisco Giants are also extending president Farhan Zaidi through 2026. So that’s their runway to get back to the playoffs, and you can probably expect a busy offseason for them.
I kept wanting to discuss this in a standalone, but never quite got over the hump of having enough to say about it, so it’s a Bullet: the Padres are already talking about how to move Xander Bogaerts off of shortstop to maximize the total production of their infield. That doesn’t mean Bogaerts, 31, can’t still have a lot of value, but if he winds up at third or first base soon, it dramatically eats into the value of what the Padres hoped to get when signing him to that 11-year, $280 million contract. The deal looked BONKERS the day it was signed for so many reasons, and just a year in, one of those reasons is already manifesting (Bogaerts’ eventual position move).
Relatedly: did the Padres really have no idea that RSNs were imploding and the debt-service rules existed as of last year? How do you go from cavalierly signing the deals that they did over the last 18 month to having to cut $50+ million from payroll? Still feels like we’re not getting the full story there.
It definitely felt like a whole lot of us were watching this one, and nowadays 9.1 million viewers for a game on TBS is a whole lot:
🚨 TBS Delivers Network’s Most Watched @MLB Postseason Game in Eight Years 🚨
I’ll have to look into this, because I’ll admit was entirely unfamiliar:
Baseball United, a startup league with teams in Karachi, Mumbai, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, hosted its first draft this morning.
The players selected include Robinson Cano, Bartolo Colon, Pablo Sandoval and Andrelton Simmons, among others. https://t.co/eQbChas6Ya— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) October 23, 2023
Tons of recognizable names were drafted, albeit mostly from a pool of “oh yeah, whatever happened to that guy?” But some old friends, too, including Zac Rosscup, Hernan Perez, Alberto Mineo, and Brian Schlitter.
Every time I see Corbin Carroll doing something incredible, I think about “how you get a superstar.” I think about how the Diamondbacks got him, and how IMMEDIATELY incredible he was, relative to where he was drafted. Carroll was a very well-regarded draft prospect out of high school, but not necessarily a top-five guy. He lasted until pick 16 in 2019 – signed for slot value – and he just exploded in pro ball despite a pandemic AND shoulder surgery costing him so much time. Obviously a number of teams did not foresee that explosion, or else he probably would’ve been drafted in the top three that year, together with Adley Rutschman and Bobby Witt Jr. I guess I just really want to see the Cubs, who’ll draft right around that spot in 2024, land a prospect as good as Corbin Carroll was immediately. Not a huge ask, right?
Similar thoughts when I see Ronald Acuña Jr., by the way, as he was an IFA signing who did not commit early for an enormous bonus. Yes, you are more likely to be able to find a superstar among the top five picks or top five IFA bonuses, but you have to be able to find them elsewhere, too.
Woohoo! It begins! Even without Shohei Ohtani news, the Winter Meetings are getting started tonight with a fairly big trade. The Atlanta Braves have reportedly acquired 24-year-old outfielder Jarred Kelenic, 27-year-old 1B Evan White, and 31-year-old lefty Marco Gonzales from...
Long-time Major League manager Jim Leyland today received the good news that he'd been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in a vote by the Contemporary Baseball Era Non-Players Committee. Leyland managed in 22 seasons with the Pirates,...
The Chicago Cubs haven't done much yet this offseason, officially, but I have no doubt they have been active. And while they wait for certain big shoes to drop, they took care of an important order of business this weekend....
We have known for quite some time that the Chicago Cubs would be interested in 25-year-old Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Cubs have scouted him like other interested teams, they've been reported to have interest, and there's also just kind...
The obsession, like the relative silence, continues ... It has felt for a while that Shohei Ohtani's free agent process would come to a head on the eve of the Winter Meetings. Maybe that's largely because we WANTED it to...
Hide your young kids' eyes: We are seeing Santa Number Two today, after seeing Santa Number One yesterday. There just happened to be events on back-to-back days that we wanted to take the kids to, each of which featured a...
Caveats aplenty here. There is a whole lot of high-stakes incentives flying around to propel misinformation, especially around the Yankees-Padres trade talks, because they are CLEARLY using the media to get out some of their desired messaging. But another report...
Within a FIVE-MINUTE SPAN, multiple reports dropped all communicating more or less the same thing: the Yankees and Padres have hit a wall in their long-reported and long-active Juan Soto trade talks. The trio of reports: https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1730714790102806825 https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1730715967234179146 https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1730716683709419917 https://twitter.com/TheAthletic/status/1730716395976151309...
Time to start watching the annual Christmas movies. I might go with 'Love Actually' tonight. I don't care what you say. It's good. It is so hard right now. So hard to focus on ANYTHING. I know it's just baseball,...
In addition to Jeff Passan this morning listing the likely final teams on Shohei Ohtani as the Cubs, Dodgers, Blue Jays, and Angels - with the Giants an unknown - you can add two more who seem to be hearing...
The Clemson Tigers (7-0) bring a seven-game winning streak into a home matchup with the South Carolina Gamecocks (7-0), who have won seven straight as well.Clemson won its most recent game against Pittsburgh, 79-70, on Sunday. Joseph Girard III was...
The Siena Saints (2-6) face the Bryant Bulldogs (5-4) on December 6, 2023. The matchup airs on ESPN+.Siena dropped its previous game to Mount St. Mary's, 80-48, on Sunday. Zek Tekin led the way with 13 points, and also had...
The Stetson Hatters (5-3) play the Charlotte 49ers (4-3) at Halton Arena on December 5, 2023.In its previous game, Charlotte lost to Davidson on Wednesday, 85-81. Igor Milicic Jr. scored a team-high 19 points (and chipped in three assists and...
The Vanderbilt Commodores (4-4) battle the San Francisco Dons (5-3) on December 6, 2023. The matchup airs on SEC.In its previous game, Vanderbilt beat Alabama A&M on Saturday, 78-59. Its high scorer was Tyrin Lawrence with 19 points. San Francisco...
The Navy Midshipmen (2-4) hope to end a three-game road losing streak when they visit the George Washington Revolutionaries (6-2) on December 5, 2023.In its most recent game, George Washington lost to South Carolina on Friday, 89-67. Darren Buchanan Jr....
The Morgan State Bears (2-8) will try to turn around a seven-game losing streak when they host the UMBC Retrievers (5-5) on December 6, 2023 at Hill Field House.In its most recent game, Morgan State lost to Longwood on Sunday,...
The Coppin State Eagles (1-8) battle the Wagner Seahawks (3-4) on December 6, 2023. The matchup airs on ESPN+.In its most recent game, Coppin State fell to Navy on Sunday, 75-52. Justin Winston scored a team-high 14 points (and chipped...
The Pittsburgh Panthers (5-3) face the West Virginia Mountaineers (3-4) at WVU Coliseum on December 6, 2023.West Virginia lost its previous game to St. John's, 79-73, on Friday. Quinn Slazinski was its high scorer with 19 points. Pittsburgh lost its...
The Robert Morris Colonials (2-6) aim to end a four-game road losing streak when they visit the Canisius Golden Griffins (5-4) on December 6, 2023.Canisius dropped its most recent game to Saint Peter's, 54-52, on Sunday. Frank Mitchell led the...
The NJIT Highlanders (1-6) will visit the Fordham Rams (4-4) after losing four straight road games.In its most recent game, Fordham lost to Tulane on Sunday, 89-81. Antrell Charlton scored a team-high 18 points (and added three assists and six...
