Hey, Go Bucks! I’d be lying if I said I followed Ohio State this year with an ardent fervor, but you cannot live in the Columbus area – especially as an alum – and not get a little swept up. So I was happy to see them win it last night, even if my days as a college football fan are are in the rearview.
That would probably depress me if the Bears, the football team my stupid ass has chosen to follow more passionately, hadn’t also had a very good day yesterday.
- After having some time to get past the frustration that the Cubs were finally willing to spend big on a multi-year deal for a late-inning reliever, only to lose Tanner Scott to the Dodgers, I think I landed in a place of peace: Just sign Kirby Yates already and be done with it. He’s good. It’s fine. You can’t expect him to repeat his unreal 2024 season at age 38, but here’s what he’s done the last two years (post-Tommy John recovery): 2.21 ERA over 122.0 IP (49% better than league average by ERA-), 3.55 FIP (17% better than league average by FIP-), 33.6% K, 13.2% BB, 7.5% barrel, 40.8% groundball. He projects in the 3.50 ERA range, but you could see there being upside from there (he’s long been a FIP-beater, and the projections play those very conservatively), and anything near 3.00 would be a very strong addition to the back of the bullpen. So just go get him and be done with this part of the offseason.
- Unless the Dodgers sign him, too, as they apparently have also targeted Yates (unclear whether they’d still try post-Scott).
- Speaking of potentially impactful bullpen arms for the Cubs, it’s possible Ben Brown could start the season out in that role, as opposed to starting in the big league rotation or at Iowa. That would just be a numbers game, and if he’s one of your best 13 arms, you’d rather he was at least getting you outs in the bullpen than not getting you outs at all. Still, even if he spends time in relief, he’ll still probably make starts, too.
- Now fully over his neck issue, Brown is geeked about having the chance to do whatever the Cubs need (Marquee): โI go out there, I donโt take it easy when I start,โ Brown said. โFrom pitch 1 to pitch 100, itโs the same guy. As a reliever, I donโt really have a hard time transitioning to that …. Obviously what happened [with the injury] was kind of freakish, but my arm felt really good in the middle of that, so I can definitely do that again. One day I would love to be a starter for 162 games and be in that role. But being a swingman and being all over the place is actually kind of a blast. So as long as I can take care of myself, itโll be good …. Being at the field every single day and being a horse in whatever role Iโm in. I just want to play every day, whatever that looks like.โ
- I thought it was a good question, and it was answered about as well as it can be:
So I did get to ask the first question of the Convention to Jed and Carter. My question had to do with the #Cubs front office continuing to let go of scouts and diminishing their roles. Iโm curious what you think of their answer to my question. pic.twitter.com/dYOS7Lylqd— Crawly's Cubs Kingdom (@crawlyscubs) January 20, 2025
- Hall of Fame announcement is coming today. Speaking of which, he should be, but won’t be, unanimous:
- Alexander Canario, All-Star:
- I laughed:
- I hopped on Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney’s podcast (ah, memories) as a guess this week:
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