Around the MLB

[polo007]

Read on Twitter

[Schad]

They just signed brad miller to a minor league deal, logan morrisson a few days ago. Mckinney or Drury would have fit their somewhere if they were not moved. Fangraphs still likes them for 92 wins today, the Rays 89 and the Red Sox 88 but 92 seems a little high for the Yankees?

Miller is exactly what they need though,I think, a middle infielder who had 30 home runs in 2016. Could also play some first base.

Speaks to the sheer amount of talent they had that the team hasn't imploded. I mean, their IL team could probably challenge for the playoffs:

C: Sanchez
1B: Bird
2B: Grigorius
3B: Andujar
SS: Tulo*
LF: Stanton
CF: Hicks:
RF: Judge
DH: Ellsbury

Pitchers: Severino, Montgomery, Betances.


*Even IL All-Stars Tulo won't move off SS.

[I_Like_Dirt]

*Even IL All-Stars Tulo won't move off SS.

Tulo would occupy the IL spot for the IL allstars, though, so the SS spot would still be up for grabs.

[BigLeagueChew]

Read on Twitter

Everyone is getting injured.

[dagger]

One blast from the past: Travis d'Arnaud was DFA'd by the Mets after a 2-23 start. That trade still bites.

[BigLeagueChew]

Bellinger had a ridiculous March/April. fwar of 3.0 / 256 wRC+ / .554 wOBA / .890 slug / . 459 iso . More walks than strikeouts.

[phillipmike]

Read on Twitter

I would say he is a walking joke but he seems to have problems just walking.

[BigLeagueChew]

Corey Kluber Diagnosed With Forearm Fracture

The Indians have suffered another injury in the rotation, as two-time AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his right ulna tonight, per a team announcement. The injury occurred when Kluber was struck on the right arm by a 102 mph comeback line-drive off the bat of the Marlins’ Brian Anderson.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/05/corey-kluber-indians-fractured-forearm-ulna-comebacker.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

[torontoaces04]

The one that got away..

http://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=401075194

[Schad]

So, this is seriously **** up:

https://deadspin.com/it-sure-sounds-like-a-cub-exec-was-trying-to-influence-1834492342

Short recap: Addison Russell is set to return from his domestic violence suspension. Sheryl Ring at Fangraphs reported that the Cubs were arm-twisting media members in order to get them to talk about the wonderful redemption story that is a guy who missed a quarter of a baseball season because he physically and emotionally abused his wife for years, rather than the bit where he did those things. Other media members corroborated Ring's story. Theo Epstein struck a fairly sensible tack, stating that anyone in the organization that threatened to pull access if journos said things they disliked would be canned (as they should be!).

Then...the Cubs' top media flack decided instead to announce that Ring's lying, despite the corroboration, that Fangraphs has no credibility, and so on and so forth. Which resulted in Cubs fans filling Ring's mentions with death threats, in order to defend someone who admitted to abusing his wife and the team running cover for said player. It's really not a good look, and the Cubs' VP of Communications should probably start updating his resume, because "unleashing an internet mob to attack a journalist who credibly reported on your attempt to shield an abuser from scrutiny" is generally frowned upon.

[Skin Blues]

Definitely not a good look for the Cubs. But there's a very real chance that the source for Gianella and Ring (likely the same person; Sheryl's significant other is the producer for Mike Gianella's podcast) is lying, or at least greatly exaggerating what actually happened, for various possible reasons; becoming a victim has become one of the highest honours one can receive, lately. Tearing somebody else down in the process is a close second. If a reporter was "instructed by the Cubs to lay off Russell and threatened with reprisal if they didn't" it would be pretty easy to prove. And as the Cubs have said, if somebody did this, they'd be fired. Leaking it to a couple of fantasy baseball writers, as opposed to actual reporters, might not have been the best course of action...

[Schad]

Ring is a lawyer, not a fantasy writer, and primarily writes about legal issues on Fangraphs. It's also worth noting that the story was confirmed by a writer for NBCSports who spoke to a local member of the Cubs media. I'd be rather surprised if they were making it up.

Regarding the provability, let's say that your job depends on having team access. And let's say that the issue at hand is that the team is threatening access if you write something unfavourable. You really want to be the one that goes public to say that, yeah, the team is threatening access under those circumstances?

[Black Watch]

Regarding the provability, let's say that your job depends on having team access. And let's say that the issue at hand is that the team is threatening access if you write something unfavourable. You really want to be the one that goes public to say that, yeah, the team is threatening access under those circumstances?

If the top boss has said publicly that whoever threatened you will be fired, then yes.

[Schad]

If the top boss has said publicly that whoever threatened you will be fired, then yes.

Your access ultimately depends on the PR shop. Regardless of what the president says, you really want to get someone there fired?

[Skin Blues]

Ring is a lawyer, not a fantasy writer, and primarily writes about legal issues on Fangraphs. It's also worth noting that the story was confirmed by a writer for NBCSports who spoke to a local member of the Cubs media. I'd be rather surprised if they were making it up.

Regarding the provability, let's say that your job depends on having team access. And let's say that the issue at hand is that the team is threatening access if you write something unfavourable. You really want to be the one that goes public to say that, yeah, the team is threatening access under those circumstances?

She's a lawyer that writes fantasy baseball columns on a fantasy baseball site. Yes, she also writes about legal issues. That's all really beside the point, which is that, (if the claims are true), it might have been wiser to leak to an actual reporter with a history and reputation.

The Cubs have said they'd fire somebody if they did this. If a reporter had evidence of what they're claiming then they would face no trouble getting access. Lets be honest, even if the Cubs wanted to, the sh*tstorm that would take place if they actually blackballed somebody for coming out about that would much worse than just dealing with it. That's why they came straight out and said they'd fire somebody who did that.

In all likelihood what happened is a molehill of a story that nobody would care about was made into a mountain by purposefully leaving out actual details and leaving everybody to fill in the blanks. Even if you don't want to name the Cubs employee, and even if you don't want to identify yourself, it's important to say what was actually said. What were the actual words used in the threat? This reeks of an attempt at getting cheap internet points, but it blew up and backfired because amazingly, most people outside of Woke Baseball Twitter don't blindly believe serious accusations without some kind of evidence.

[Fairview4Life]

The two things all reporters love to do: name sources and give scoops to other reporters.

[Schad]

She's a lawyer that writes fantasy baseball columns on a fantasy baseball site. Yes, she also writes about legal issues. That's all really beside the point, which is that, (if the claims are true), it might have been wiser to leak to an actual reporter with a history and reputation.

She's a lawyer that primarily writes about the legal and labour side of baseball. Here's her archive:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/author/baseball4me/

The Cubs have said they'd fire somebody if they did this. If a reporter had evidence of what they're claiming then they would face no trouble getting access. Lets be honest, even if the Cubs wanted to, the sh*tstorm that would take place if they actually blackballed somebody for coming out about that would much worse than just dealing with it. That's why they came straight out and said they'd fire somebody who did that.

In all likelihood what happened is a molehill of a story that nobody would care about was made into a mountain by purposefully leaving out actual details and leaving everybody to fill in the blanks. Even if you don't want to name the Cubs employee, and even if you don't want to identify yourself, it's important to say what was actually said. What were the actual words used in the threat? This reeks of an attempt at getting cheap internet points, but it blew up and backfired because amazingly, most people outside of Woke Baseball Twitter don't blindly believe serious accusations without some kind of evidence.

It's really naive to believe that reporters, who are very much beholden to the PR department, would throw a member of the PR department under the bus in public, even if reassured that doing so wouldn't have consequences. That's not generally how it works. They might not retaliate directly, but you could certainly expect that you'll be on the bottom of their to-call list going forward for interviews, news they want leaked, etc. Access journalism is a pox, but it exists because journalists have a professional interest in staying within the lines, particularly in puffery-filled venues like sports.

[Skin Blues]

She's a lawyer that writes fantasy baseball columns on a fantasy baseball site. Yes, she also writes about legal issues. That's all really beside the point, which is that, (if the claims are true), it might have been wiser to leak to an actual reporter with a history and reputation.

She's a lawyer that primarily writes about the legal and labour side of baseball. Here's her archive:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/author/baseball4me/

The Cubs have said they'd fire somebody if they did this. If a reporter had evidence of what they're claiming then they would face no trouble getting access. Lets be honest, even if the Cubs wanted to, the sh*tstorm that would take place if they actually blackballed somebody for coming out about that would much worse than just dealing with it. That's why they came straight out and said they'd fire somebody who did that.

In all likelihood what happened is a molehill of a story that nobody would care about was made into a mountain by purposefully leaving out actual details and leaving everybody to fill in the blanks. Even if you don't want to name the Cubs employee, and even if you don't want to identify yourself, it's important to say what was actually said. What were the actual words used in the threat? This reeks of an attempt at getting cheap internet points, but it blew up and backfired because amazingly, most people outside of Woke Baseball Twitter don't blindly believe serious accusations without some kind of evidence.

It's really naive to believe that reporters, who are very much beholden to the PR department, would throw a member of the PR department under the bus in public, even if reassured that doing so wouldn't have consequences. That's not generally how it works. They might not retaliate directly, but you could certainly expect that you'll be on the bottom of their to-call list going forward for interviews, news they want leaked, etc. Access journalism is a pox, but it exists because journalists have a professional interest in staying within the lines, particularly in puffery-filled venues like sports.

There's no shortage of Chicago sports writers talking trash about the Cubs without fear of reprisal. Why not leak to one of them? Maybe they did and since it was unsubstantiated, they didn't run with it. So they just threw out vague claims with a part-time Fangraphs writer without saying what was actually said.

I have no doubt that the Cubs don't want to have certain stories written about the Russell situation, and beat writers would most certainly feel hesitant to write those stories for fear of reprisal. That's only natural, even if the Cubs didn't make any threats. As you say, that just comes with the territory with access journalism. But the claim that a reporter was directly threatened by the team is the story here. And making those claims requires evidence, or at the very least quotes of what was actually said, rather than what reporter thought was implied, or the way they interpreted something.

[Schad]

There's no shortage of Chicago sports writers talking trash about the Cubs without fear of reprisal. Why not leak to one of them? Maybe they did and since it was unsubstantiated, they didn't run with it. So they just threw out vague claims with a part-time Fangraphs writer without saying what was actually said.

Which was, again, corroborated by a writer for NBCSports. Among others.

Why would a Chicago sportswriter leak to another Chicago sportswriter who wouldn't want to touch it? Also, you're seriously underestimating how gossipy journalists are, especially when it comes to stories they aren't writing.

I have no doubt that the Cubs don't want to have certain stories written about the Russell situation, and beat writers would most certainly feel hesitant to write those stories for fear of reprisal. That's only natural, even if the Cubs didn't make any threats. As you say, that just comes with the territory with access journalism. But the claim that a reporter was directly threatened by the team is the story here. And making those claims requires evidence, or at the very least quotes of what was actually said, rather than what reporter thought was implied, or the way they interpreted something.

So, there are two possibilities:

- It's exactly what it looks like, a possibility that seems to me to be bolstered by their top PR flack shooting from the hip;

- This is a conspiracy among a number of individuals within the industry to slander the Cubs in order to...appear woke?

[-MetA4-]

- This is a conspiracy among a number of individuals within the industry to slander the Cubs in order to...appear woke?

Would that surprise you? That is basically Sheryl Ring's job description at Fangraphs. "Professional lawyer" who does no law work and often gets corrected on legal matters by random posters in the comments section (LOL) who spends their entire time writing non-baseball related opinion pieces on a baseball analytics website.