The Happ Arb figures, Big-Arm Cubs Prospect and other Cubs bullets

I really need to learn a lesson: just because a sophisticated cookie LOOKS like it would be really good, it doesn’t mean that you should buy a dozen of them right away. Try one first. Otherwise, you’re stuck with another 11 of these cookies, trying to convince yourself that, no, actually, i really like them! so that you don’t waste money …

• Among the players eligible for Cubs refereeing, it is less surprising that Ian Happ – the team’s union representative and a player eligible for refereeing for the first time – stood his ground. Without a deal yesterday, the sides exchanged their proposed salary amounts, one of which will be selected by an arbitrator next month:

• If he wins the case, it means a lot to his earnings in future years (because they are based on previous years) and to the future earnings of other players at the referee level. His case is admittedly complicated, given his break in the shortened season, his solid overall numbers before last season and also his downgrade in 2019. My main hope is that the sides can create a unique situation and reach an agreement before the hearing ( or rather, an extension!), but this is no longer expected in these situations. It tends to be file and judgment, with yesterday being the limit for negotiations. Fortunately, the spread there is not VERY large, so the pain of losing your case will not hurt Happ much and / or the uncertain possibility of losing the case to the Cubs will not affect your ability to plan from here. There is still a lot of free agency to develop, and it is time for the Cubs to move on.

• To that end, Cubs are now essentially sure of cost for 2021 internally. Except for the relatively small spread with Happ, all other contracts are decided and we are getting a better assessment of the possible participation of fans over the weeks. Cubs should probably be able to budget for baseball at this point and start targeting low-cost free agents for the initial rotation, second base and outfield. There are so many opportunities out there and, as we have already discussed, even when Cubs are restarted, adding good players cheaply is still important.

• Furthermore, yes: having arbitration agreements for certain players could impact trade rumors (which, in turn, would impact what the Cubs do in a free agency).

• Overall, only 13 players exchanged numbers yesterday, which is quite low, and it appeared that many of the sales were above projections. None of the spreads in the 13 unresolved cases are very large, so clearly everyone played this year very conservatively, given all the risks and uncertainties.

• Puppies launching prospectus Benjamin Rodriguez has been one of those “projectable” guys for a while, who hadn’t shown up on radar yet, but if you were a nerd, you knew him. He had all the physical characteristics that you look for in an initial frontline pitcher, and by the end of his teens, IFA’s hiring in 2016 started to add speed (it’s a bit like that with 16-year-old IFA pitchers – they ‘the risk is so high that you hire a lot of projectable guys and see who develops it). Now 21, it’s possible that he really blew up during the shutdown – is he saying he’s playing 98 mph now on flat ground?!?!:

• In June, this is how FanGraphs described Rodriguez by placing him 26th on the system: “Still a very young, slim and well-structured prospect whose speed slowly increased as he matured physically, Rodriguez went from 88-92 seated to live in the 90-94 range for the past two seasons. His breaking ball, which had a promising shape at the beginning, added more strength and became more slippery during that time. He is athletic enough to project under his command and change to such an extent that it has a realistic chance of eventually fitting into a rotation. ”

• Really big:

• The teacher must:

• Great promotions this weekend for the NFL playoffs, if you are interested (thanks for checking this out, as they support BN in the process):

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