Running 2015 MLB Regular-Season Thread

No one has ever questioned it's a sound business move.
Does that make it good for competitive integrity? Hell no.
And at this point it's a separate issue. I enjoy the Cub hubris that this guy will just come in and rake. This might be fun.

 

All of that is true. Except the Cubs claimed that he still needed some development,. And somehow he magically doesn't need that development any more after seven games in Triple A.

Yeah, they don't want to admit that they did it solely for financial reasons, because they would be criticized, but don't BS everyone. Suck it up, admit the reason why and take the criticism. Nobody except Bryant and Boras will remember it if he has a big year and the Cubs make the playoffs.

 

Meanwhile, Wil Myers, the Kris Bryant of 2-3 years ago, just hit a 3-run bomb.

 

Bears cornerback Tim Jennings just sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" not only like he'd never been to a Cubs game, but like he'd never heard of baseball.

 

And his former manager, Joe Maddon, was ejected for disputing it.

 

Every team that has done this has spouted the same bullshit. The Pirates did it with Polanco last year, for example.

 

But who cares if they BS about it? We know why they did it, it's the right move, who gives a shit?

How does it hurt competitive integrity? The Cubs are trying to build a team that can compete for years. Locking down a player they believe will be a cornerstone of the franchise for another year at small money is the correct move from a competitive standpoint. Again, we're talking about SEVEN games. It's not like they had to leave him down for three months and could end up missing the playoffs because of it. They left him down for SEVEN games. Oh, and they were in first place when they called him up, so leaving him down did nothing to hurt them from a competitive standpoint.

This isn't even an argument.

 

This is part of the MLB business model. If fans don't get that, maybe someone should explain it to them.

 

I get all that.

Still, I hope the Cubs are OK if/when the shoe is on the other foot.

And fwiw, forget about days or weeks, you could argue the Cubs wasted months (a year in calendar time) of his development by not promoting him last year. But why would they when the stated goal is to suck for years.

 

It is gaming the system and the MLBPA can and should challenge the practice in the negotiations for the next CBA, if not sooner. Teams are flat-out lying to cover up their bullshit, so I can understand the frustration in that area. It isn't right, but given the rules, it is tough to argue with what the Cubs did. It was such a short amount of time for an entire year of control of the player. The MLBPA failed to anticipate this issue, so some of this has to go on the players.

What I do have an issue with is what the Pirates did last year with Polanco, going months into the season so they could also push back the clock on arbitration. All indications pointed to Polanco being ready, but they waited until June 10 to find out. The only reason it didn't cost them a playoff spot was a well-timed hot streak by Travis Snider the final month of the season after Polanco had faltered.

 

Was it really that clear that he was ready at that point? I'm not arguing. I'm asking.

 

You want to put a screaming loud Jumbotron in Wrigley? A curse on you. lol