Morel’s Spot and Dinger, Amaya Winter Ball, Bartolo Still Going, Bellinger, Playoff Shares, and Other Cubs Bullets

Our Thanksgiving this year was really nice and went really well. Company was good. Food was good. But the one thing that’s been lacking: the leftovers. It just wasn’t quite a collection of stuff that works well for ME as leftovers (sandwiches and what-have-you). I’m back to regular food just a day later. Boooooo.

  • That whole “Christopher Morel is going to play first base this winter” thing was clearly an elaborate and hyper-niche prank:
  • I am kidding, obviously, but what you’re seeing is a reminder that the winter leagues are highly competitive, and they do not exist to serve the development interests of MLB organizations. Maybe the Cubs urged Águilas Cibaeñas to have Morel play first base, but they have to do only what’s best for them to win games. We did hear that Morel can still get work at first base between the league games (there is non-game work, obviously, but also some scrimmages, I believe). Still, it’s clear he’s not going to get in a ton of real games – if any – at first base. Now, could he come to Spring Training and work exclusively at first base, after having focused there in his non-game work in the offseason, and become serviceable? Oh, probably. (Insert Wash quote.) But is that how the Cubs are going to structure their offseason plan for first base and for Morel? I really doubt it.
  • … which brings me back to what I thought the Cubs should’ve been doing all along this offseason, which was having Morel focus very hard and very exclusively on third base. That’s where Morel landing would help the Cubs the most, and he has the skills to be a very good third baseman – he just has to get the arm slot right and consistency on the throws. That takes reps, reps, reps, reps.
  • That is to say, I just want to make sure the Cubs have a spot for Morel’s bat every day, even if they were to add another DH. Because, as he reminded everyone in that LIDOM game, Morel swings it, man:
  • Small sample, but Morel, 24, is raking in the Dominican Republic so far through five games, hitting .294/.368/.765, with as many extra-base hits (4) as strikeouts (4).
  • Meanwhile, Miguel Amaya is headed to play in the Dominican Republic, too, starting today (per Mark Gonzales). Given Amaya’s importance to the 2024 Cubs as 1/2 of the catching tandem with Yan Gomes (I could really see it being close to a 50/50 split), and given all the time he’s missed the last few years, it’s probably good for him to be getting in extra reps at and behind the plate.
  • Elsewhere in international competition, the new Baseball United league got underway, and wouldn’t you know, it was 50-year-old Bartolo Colon registering the league’s first strikeout:
  • If you missed what that league is about, it’s the first ever pro league in the Middle East and South Asia, and it features some former MLB stars like Colon, Robinson Cano, Pablo Sandoval and Didi Gregorius, among others. Former Cubs org guys Brian Schlitter, Alberto Mineo, Hernan Perez, Andrelton Simmons, and Zac Rosscup are playing in the league. As an unabashed supporter of the game all around the world, I hope this league works. For this season, there are four teams, with four more expected next year.
  • Since this is not at all news (the contact quality stuff), I wonder if this is the Yankees’ way of trying to either soften fan expectations for a Cody Bellinger signing, or trying to communicate to Scott Boras that $200+ million is simply not going to happen:
  • The playoff shares from the Rangers and Diamondbacks were over $500,000 and $300,000, respectively, and the players get to vote on who receives them. This year, those teams made sure a number of support staff and clubhouse personnel got full or partial shares, as it can obviously be completely life-changing money for those folks. I like to remember that whenever I think about how much I want the Cubs to make a deep run in the playoffs. If I’m being honest, it’s MOSTLY about my personal joy of watching them play, of course, but I do also very much appreciate thinking about how much that extra postseason money can mean to people in the organization.
  • 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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