Cubs Told Pederson He Will Play Every Day, Outfield Splits, Alcantara, Bauer, And Other Cubs Balls

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It was a very good episode of “WandaVision”. I’m resisting spoiler comments at least until Monday, so I’ll only say this: I was surprised by a lot of the direction in this episode. Pleasantly. (Get your Disney + here if you want to binge.)

• It’s rare that you have such a deep look behind the scenes of a player’s signing, but it’s great. Writing to The Player’s Tribune, Joc Pederson explains his departure from LA with thank you and a lot of love, and why he’s coming to the Cubs – it’s very remarkable:

• Pederson describes his decision to come to the Cubs as an opportunity to play every day, which he knew he wouldn’t get with the Dodgers because of the stacked lineup (I’m * sure * he didn’t. meant that as a backhand shot in the Cubs – that’s just correct). In other words, Pederson’s search for a team this offseason has led him to the Cubs in large part because they’re willing to give him a shot at being the everyday left fielder – not a guy. platoon. Here’s Pederson on his conversations with the Cubs and David Ross:

Wake up the next morning. Connect with Jed by phone – unreal conversation. We are even more on the same wavelength than I could have imagined.

Next step, Jed connects me with Rossy.

“Woah! You just did my offseason. That’s how Rossy opens our call.

We talked about… .. everything. We really vibrated. It was awesome, man.

He told me about his managerial style. He said to me, “I’ll be honest with you. I’m going to be really honest about it. (Great. That’s how I like it.)

He told me about what I could expect from my role. He said to me, “You’re gonna be our guy in left field, except for the occasional day off, like anyone. But if we’re at the All-Star break and you hit fifty bucks, you know… ..we’ll re-evaluate. We will probably have to make a change. (100%. I absolutely respect that, and I respect Rossy for saying it. Everything else would have seemed like a false promise.)

He told me he was into it and would love to have me on the team. I told him I totally agreed and would love to be there.

• Pederson writes that he has received good offers from teams to become a field fielder, but that is not what he wanted. So, I think we can take that to heart: The Cubs plan to give Pederson a shot at being an everyday player, even against lefties (whom he only hit .191 / .266 / against. .310, 59 wRC + in his career.). It might not last all year, but the Cubs are going to stick with that word for a while – that’s how they operate – and then re-evaluate mid-season. So I hope Pederson is ready to significantly improve his results against lefties. Heck, maybe in a new organization he can do it?

• The Cubs have – among others – a right-handed platoon partner, Phillip Ervin, on the roster (.277 / .352 / .459, 113 wRC + vs. lefties), so it will be interesting to see how Ross handles it. really the situation. On paper, you can’t justify siting a guy who’s a more hitter against lefties for a guy who is a serious negative against lefties, but that’s not always the only consideration (as the article by Pederson). Maybe Ervin sees the weather in the right field spelling Jason Heyward, who also has major platoon divisions? Oh, too, since we’re at it: Ian Happ is hands down the best of the starting line against lefties, but he only hit .240 / .316 / .394 (88 wRC +) against them. So on the days the Cubs face a southpaw and go with Pederson-Happ-Heyward into the outfield, they’re not exactly preparing for the best chance of offensive success.

• Meanwhile, contract details on Pederson’s deal:

• It’s nice to be able to say there is an option for the second year, but here’s the reality: if the buyback is fully guaranteed (most of this year’s mutual options by the ONT teams included a fully guaranteed buyback, unlike years past), so what you’re talking about is a one-year deal with $ 2.5 million carried over after the season. You can call it a mutual option, but if the buyout is guaranteed one way or the other the only way the guy will come back is for him and the team to fix his market value (a year in advance) to exactly $ 7.5 million. It could happen. It probably won’t. And you can still reconnect to a free agency for the same price if you want. That’s all to say: where the buyout of a mutual option is fully guaranteed – instead of depending on who chooses first – it’s actually just a postponement without calling it a postponement.

• Dodgers drop thank-you video:

• The Cubs have sent information on Spring Practice tickets to Sloan season ticket holders, and Bleed Cubbie Blue has the details. Right now, it looks like limited tickets will be available to season ticket holders this spring, sold in sets of 2, 4, or 6. Note that while Arizona does allow participation in the spring training games from the Cubs on February 27, when the Cactus League kicks off, that doesn’t necessarily mean Illinois or Chicago will open Wrigley Field to fans on April 1. This remains to be determined as the pandemic does its job and vaccine deployment progresses.

• Cubs new infielder Sergio Alcantara from someone who has covered the Tigers’ minor league system:

• Trevor Williams is happy to be with the Cubs:

• Right now, that says more about these three teams than it does about Trevor Bauer’s deal, to be honest:

• Striking in Los Angeles, where the media might not be much friendlier to Bauer than New York would have been:

• With love and appreciation you will notice that we are sharing a lot of promotions for this weekend. This is partly because the deals they are offering are particularly good for obvious reasons, and partly because it is an important and necessary income weekend for us. Thanks for making us happy! Here are two of the best we’ve seen:



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