:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65839286/112888693.jpg.0.jpg)
THE HOT CORNER
Well here we go. The baseball implementation of Mutually Assured Destruction, where the threat of being destroyed is something that is not only a risk to the loser. Yes, the loser is emotionally crushed, and perhaps they are competitively crushed (depending on how the entire market of opportunities plays out). Certainly their franchise plans are crushed.
Meanwhile, the winner is economically crushed. It’s assured. It’s part of the deal.
Even if you are the player, while you are economically blessed, that blessing comes with the risk of intense pressure and immense fan expectations, things that can wear on the player and the family of the player. Such things can even destroy your production, making things worse. See Harper, Bryce: 2019 Mega Expectation Poster Child.
But the agent? For the agent it’s wins all around, wins for all seasons, wins without hangover, wins that are so stupendous your banker pays for your lunches and Vegas pays for your limos. Wins where the memories of your work days are all about the giggling as you went back and forth between the bidding parties doing nothing but handing out bad news that merely made you richer. Wins where you have enough money to hire a personal body guard who’s only duty is to issue a right cross to your jaw every morning before you walk out the door so that the world never sees that giant smile on your face which you cannot control behind closed doors.
The world goes mad, and it goes M.A.D., and lots of folks are going to be mad. You cannot stop any of it so just ponder the insanity of this little factoid, shake your head in amusement and enjoy yet another holiday season weekend as you can sleep safely knowing that none of this is your money. But this is entirely true: in 2030, when all is said and done, Gerrit Cole will be making more income EVERY YEAR just in interest earnings off of all the money he is about to be paid, than TWICE what it cost George Steinbrenner to purchase the entire New York Yankees franchise AND Yankee Stadium back in 1973.
Yep. Two MLB sterling franchises, each of which will become the 2nd-most valuable sports franchises on planet earth. Plus two MLB stadiums, each of which is a crown jewel of MLB history and each of which sits on New York city real estate. Just off of interest. Every year. For life. And the annual interest money left over will still be enough to place Cole in the top 1% bracket of all wage earners, anywhere.
And with that, see you all on Monday!
ANGELS
That win-win deal where Arte Moreno purchases the stadium and the available land surrounding and will invest his own money to spruce things up? Well, “win-win” is one thing, but it’s not “win-win-win-win-win-infinite-number-of-wins”. Just because it looks pretty good for both sides on paper doesn’t mean that there are not other sides who want their buttons pushed. For instance, the deal is going through so cleanly on the side of city officials that watchdogs can smell the certain odor of Brown Act violations. Read the whole article because there are a lot of details to be ironed out and a lot of opportunities for various factions to object. Some are legit............
A few details on what is known about the stadium/land sale situation..........
Interesting data point. Dylan Bundy was with the Orioles for a 1 year period where Baltimore had brought over some of the Asstros pitching development folks, and their impact on Bundy in that short time is noticeable. The question will be what happens to Bundy once Uncle Joe’s staff gets their hands on him?...........
On the one hand, Dylan Bundy shows some class in saying thanks to Baltimore. On the other hand, now I know why there is not a huge introductory presser scheduled for Bundy at Angels Stadium. He is out of the country. So that will probably happen when he gets back. Yeah, probably............
($$) - BaseballAmerica is pretty high on recent Eppler International signings. Not that I can go into any detail, since I don’t subscribe..........
Mike Trout loves this, but I am struggling. They really took 5 of Mike’s game-used baseball bats, ground them up, and injected that stuff into 27 pairs of Nike sneakers, every one of which is a size 11 1/2?.............
HOT STOVE ACTION AND OTHER RUMORS
The Yankee brass have given MFY GM Brian Cashman an open season hunting permit to go after Gerrit Cole......Global reaction #1 is nausea as Yankee Fans kick into high gear their 6th Sense of Entitlement..........
Madison Bumgarner wants to remain a San Francisco Giant......And here is why............
Jake “Clear Path To Doom” Marisnick is out of the AL West. The Asstros traded him to the Mets for a pair of prospects..........
One more catcher situation got solved, and it wasn’t Billy Eppler’s. Trader Jerry sent his catcher, Omar Narvaez, to the Brewers in exchange for Milwaukee prospect Adam Hill and a comp pick. Narvaez is a no D, big B kinda catcher...........Céspedes Family BBQ offers up recognition to Hill as being the 200th different person Trader Jerry has touched while Mariners GM..........
Count the Angels among teams showing interest in Josh Lindblom..........And the Halos have had their Stephen Strasburg contingency visit.............
First we hear that the Yankees waved their pinstripes in front of Gerrit Cole. Now we hear that they brought in their PEDs rep, Andy Pettitte to sway the deal. Pulling out all the stops, I see..........
2019 Twins pitcher Michael Pineda will become 2020 Twins pitcher Michael Pineda. He was projected to go for 2 years, $20MM. Instead, it appears that he is going to get $20MM for 2 years. Well done, MLBTR.com..........
ASSTROS NUTZ
Hmmm. More clues from Inspector Internet?............
CC Sabathia is struggling to talk out loud about being cheated out of playoff opportunity by the Asstros............
Johnny Damon has no problem talking about how knowing what pitch is coming becomes a huge advantage for the batter...........
BASEBALL THINGS IN GENERAL
Please spend your entire weekend slowly reading and digesting this piece by Sam Miller which breaks down how WAR is calculated. It’s one play, a few seconds of baseball time, a very long but interesting read, and a lifetime of understanding. Oh, and it does go into differences between WAR systems. It won’t help you convince doubters, but it will arm you with the tools to shut them up..........
The next class of Hall Of Fame inductees are to be announced January 22, 2020. About 6 weeks away. That makes this the most apropos title of the season: The Hall of Fame may have a Harold Baines problem. Like, shit yeah. “Whether they intended it or not, this might be the moment that the veterans committee voting became more about the voters than the people on the ballot. We’ve seen that enough on the BBWAA side to know it sucks the fun out of the Hall of Fame...Since the Hall of Fame is a living museum, wherein the standards for inclusion change as new honorees are added, the election of Baines is akin to when a prosecutor’s malfeasance makes us want to examine all of his old cases...The election of Baines could have huge ramifications that could very well play out on this year’s ballot.”............
The Burlington Bees are proud to promote the work of Congress in saving MiLB teams targeted for de-affiliation. Although they ignored my request to chat with them for your benefit (hint hint), I shall remain loyal to them and continue to bring their cause to your doorstep...........
Bobby Jenks began his career as a 5th-round draft choice by the Angels in 2000. The White Sox claimed him off waivers in 2004, and ended up out of baseball after the 2011 season. In between he was not without controversy and not without struggles. Some of those struggles will linger with him forever, and it ain’t pretty..........
Huh. Learn something new every day. I didn’t even realize that there was anybody handing out such a thing as “Coach Of The Year”. So congrats to Derek Johnson..........
(h/t UniWatch) So much MiLB re-branding going on - and let’s be honest, things have gotten REAL crazy - and things are trending towards even crazier - it was inevitable that teams would start tripping over one another on logos and artwork..........
Let’s look again over there at NBA and their dwindling TV ratings. We already pointed to Mark Cuban blaming cord-cutters taking eyeballs away from cable carriers, where the counting is being done. The long-term solution is for the league to chase the eyeballs over to streaming services. The tactical solution? Moving more games back to FREE broadcast TV..........
Again, calling on all baseball fans to consider donating a few dollars to a very worthy and desperate cause............
STUFF
(h/t reddit) This guy does MLB logos all “Toronto-style”. Ours looks like a little brat but the Dodgers looks like a 5th-wheel RV............And this reddit guy certainly thinks we need a new stadium, ranking the one the Halos play in 24th out of 30. But then, he must not have been in town since at least 2004, since he still calls Arte’s team the “Anaheim Angels”..........Jon Heyman is not completely worthless..........Noah Syndergaard the AL MVP of Twitter............
OT: First world problems..........