Why Does MLB Want a Mediator for the CBA Negotiations?

2-5-22 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

Here’s the truth, it’s probably not to mediate.

As with anything MLB proposes, they’re of course willing to accept it, but more often than not they’re simply looking for movement from the players.

It’s important to note after the last proposal from the players that really didn’t move much, the owners pledged they’d respond with another proposal of their own. After a couple days, they changed their tune, saying they wouldn’t respond and instead asked for mediation from a federal department that specializes in labor negotiations.

The players of course rejected that (which the owners expected and wanted) because these two sides aren’t at a point where they need help fine tuning an agreement or where they need to knock off one more thing that’s troubling the deal, instead they are miles apart on multiple fronts and actively making proposals.

So why would the owners want to mediate? Why wouldn’t the players? Let’s dig in on this today.

The Players

First of all, the players being painted as some greedy outfit that won’t budge on anything is exactly what the owners want the perception to be. When you get an opportunity in negotiations to force the other side to say no to just about anything immediately, especially if it’s something that sounds completely benign or altruistic on the surface, it’s a win.

The players know that, but they also know if they were to surrender to mediation where they are right now the mid point between where they sit and the owners rest would put them firmly in an owner’s win territory.

In their minds, as long as progress is being made, keep coming back to the table. Hell, I bet the next step for them is to suggest an end to the lockout and to play 2022 with no CBA while negotiating a new one. We’ve seen that movie before, and last time it cost the league a World Series. They also wouldn’t truly be able to just play under the last CBA, there is a wall built in for the existing Competitive Balance Tax that expired and can’t just be popped back in even temporarily without bargaining.

Another interesting point that Evan Drellich of The Athletic brought out recently and most fans (me included if I’m honest) don’t realize. MLB doesn’t have completely closed books. They have to share with the players audited documents regarding revenue. This isn’t complete open books as it doesn’t cover all revenue streams such as real estate surrounding the ballpark, parking, things like that. Terrific piece, check it out if you like, it is a pay site.

Point of all that, well, the perception has always been that the players were only guessing about the kind of money teams have, this suggests it’s a bit more educated at least.

Thing is, the players do likely have an idea of what percentage they currently get, which I won’t even try to dispute is probably not as much as it should be, but at least this road block is not as vast as we thought it was. I’ve long said this was one of the biggest impediments to getting a salary cap system, that seems less daunting now to me.

The Owners

Remember this line I wrote the other day about the CBA?

If you take nothing else from this piece, take this, when two sides are $95 million apart, and right up against missing the start of Spring Training, then one side moves all of $5 million, it’s not going well.

Well, here we are.

Rob Manfred has been around for quite some time, acting as outside counsel in 1994 when the league sought mediation to end the work stoppage. So he of all people knows it went terribly, and for that very reason I believe asking for it now, when it was very clear it would be rejected was strategic. They wanted the PR, not the actual result.

Why? I mean what incentive could the owners possibly have to play a PR game when losing baseball games is literally right on the doorstep?

Tell you what, I’ll get into that in the next section, let’s stay on track for now and finish trying to understand what the owners have to have to open this thing up.

Take the CBA from last year, add in the DH, the expanded playoffs and a slight increase to the minimum salary, this group would sign. Now as soon as they start giving on things outside this group of items, the return they want is exorbitant.

The players have a real list of needs, the owners don’t.

My Conspiracy Theory

In 1994 once the owners brought in a mediator and it failed, they used their last legal recourse, declare an impasse and make their last, best offer which in that case was to unilaterally impose a salary cap system. They lost this legal argument because they didn’t properly have their ducks in a row, and I already told you Rob Manfred was involved in that event, so don’t assume he learned nothing. Also don’t assume most of what we’ve seen has been in an effort to make sure everything that needs done is done.

The league has already proposed a weak salary cap system during this negotiation. It was unanimously voted on and put forward as an official proposal. This is a step that wasn’t properly taken last go round. They’ve shown a willingness to move on every request from the players, even if nowhere near enough. And now they’ve asked for mediation which is the beginning of laying the groundwork for claiming a deal can’t happen.

It’d be hard to claim they are near a stalemate right now, but I’d expect one more significant move toward an agreement and if it doesn’t change, the nuclear option could be on the table.

Conclusion

Some fans are simply going to be mad because they just aren’t going to see past the simplistic. They want baseball games, these people are keeping it from happening = mad. I get it, but to me the only outcome that would be unacceptable is to lose games and come out of it with anything less than a cap system.

Slightly better with loss of games, nope. Worse with no loss of games, nope. A cap system sounds so scary to players who think it’s immediately going to kill their ability to make money, and that makes sense, if you live with no rules for years and years you aren’t going to like it when they’re applied. I make no bones about the fact I want a cap system, but note, I don’t say it has to be for anything less than an assurance the players get at least 50% of revenue. Something they couldn’t say right now. See I don’t care who “wins”, I want everyone to make out. Competitive balance, and well compensated players make for a healthy league with a thriving and invested fan base.

We’re no longer in a situation where we can say the big market teams don’t want a cap. They just voted for it. We can’t say the small markets want to avoid a floor, again, they just voted for it. We can’t say the books have to be opened before this could happen, we now know that’s not as shadowy as we used to believe. And finally thanks to the Rockies owner we now know “Some owners can’t afford their teams because of all these other costs.” This also from The Athletic who have done some great work reporting on all this. The other costs seem to pertain to new COVID restrictions and protocols, but the reality that not every team is capable of playing with the big boys is out there officially. That in and of itself is a revelation, not because most of us didn’t know, but because it’s never been publicly said in any official capacity. This was sprung at the negotiating table.

Losing baseball games is all but a given at this point.

Picking a bad guy in this isn’t important to me. I couldn’t care less who you like or don’t, who’s destroying the game or trying to save it. I just want a fair system, that fixes the structure of the league economically and since the owners set the work rules, it’s hard to focus on any other entity as more capable of fixing it.

Pirates Fan Forum – Special Guest Gregg Olson

2-4-22 – By Gary Morgan & Jim Stamm – @garymo2007 & @JimStamm22 on Twitter

It’s not every day you get to pick the brain of a former All Star and Rookie of the Year, so when Jim and I got an opportunity to sit down with Gregg Olson and talk ball, yeah, we jumped all over it.

In this episode we discussed pitching mechanics and the way the game has changed along with some killer stories from the dugout.

As we watch pitchers evolve their arm motions and add velocity or work on new pitches, its key to have guys who’ve been through it to talk about just how difficult that can be.

Hope you enjoy the episode! Every week on Friday at 2PM we premier a new one.

Gary

https://megaphone.link/DKPS3693535830

Through The Prospect Porthole: Differing Opinions Concerning Carmen Mlodzinski’s Timeline

2-3-22 By Craig W. Toth (aka @BucsBasement On Twitter)

Obviously this off-season hasn’t really been close to normal in any way, shape, or form; unless of course you take the regular posts and articles from armchair GM’s, attempting to predict potential lineups and rotations for the Pirates during the upcoming season into consideration. Because on that front, things have been business as usual; and, they don’t seem to be showing any indication of slowing down either.

To a certain degree I can’t really blame the people who choose participate in these exercises since it gives fans the chance to talk about actual baseball, rather than focusing on the current mess that is the MLB Lockout. On the other hand I feel a sense of frustration, simply based on the confusion that sharing uneducated opinions could cause, as many of these projections lack any reasonable explanations and/or analysis.

Yes, I understand-and believe-that people are inherently entitled to their opinions; and no, I don’t always think I’m right. Yet, when I-at the very least-possess more substantiated evidence to back up my convictions, it’s hard not speak up.

A recent example of this is the expectation-held by some-that Carmen Mlodzinski will be in the Pirates starting rotation at some point in 2022, with the major reasoning being that he finished the year with Triple-A Indianapolis.

To a causal fan this would make total sense, and in most cases would be a safe assumption to make. Except for the fact that in this specific situation, it completely ignores all of the mitigating circumstances surrounding Mlodzinski’s promotion; some of which originated prior to him even being selected by the Pirates with the 31st Overall Pick in Competitive Balance Round A of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft.

Following what could reasonably be described a fairly unremarkable Freshman year at the University of South Carolina in 2018-mostly due to a 5.52 ERA, a 1.489 WHIP, 43 strike outs and 21 walks across 45.2 innings-Mlodzinski presumably had his sights set on a spot in the Gamecock’s starting rotation for the remainder of his collegiate career.

Unfortunately these aspirations would be short lived as his Sophomore and Junior seasons were both cut short by unforeseen obstacles. First he broke his foot after only 10.2 innings in 2019. Then the pandemic came along to officially end his time in Columbia; leaving him with just 14 starts over 26 appearances and a total 81.2 innings in 3 years.

Luckily for Mlodzinski, he was able show out at the Cape Cod League-a clear focus of the Cherington Regime -during the summer in between to bolster his stock; posting a 2.15 ERA while striking out 40 and only walking 4 in 29.1 innings. Now, clearly his polished three pitch mix of a 60 grade fastball that sat around 92-96 mph with good movement/sink and run, a 55 grade slider that bottomed out in the low 80’s with an almost cutting action at times and an above average change played into Pittsburgh’s interest as well; but, it’s hard to see it being as peaked as it was without his time in Eastern Mass.

Flash forward to the Spring of 2021, and a place in the Greensboro Grasshopper’s highly touted staring rotation for Mlodzinski; a distinction that he lived up to for the first few months of the season. Through the beginning of July, Mlodzinski posted a 2.88 ERA, a .994 WHIP and 11.85 K/9 in spite of struggles over his last two starts; eventually ending up on the injured list with a sore shoulder for about month. When he returned his action was limited-11.1 innings-and his pitches were ineffective-9.64 ERA and 2.57 WHIP-over his final five starts in Greensboro; which ultimately brings us back to the remaining aforementioned mitigating circumstances surrounding his promotion.

Leading up to Mlodzinski’s October 3rd appearance with the Indians-his first outing since September 19th-Indianapolis experienced losses in the pitching department because of injuries and promotions to the Big League Club. During the month of September alone the Pirates brought eleven pitchers up to PNC from Victory. The result being a combination of unlikely starters like John O’Reilly, consistent taxing of the bullpen and even an a late season appearance of a position player on the mound. The Indianapolis Indians desperately needed a place to find innings.

Enter Carmen Mlodzinski, in a perfect storm situation. The Indians required arms to finish the season, Mlodzinski needed to put in work after missing a month, and he was set to be assigned to the Arizona Fall League to continue pitching three days later; with the result being a two inning piggyback outing, where he allowed one earned run on three hits, while striking out and walking two batters a piece.

After all of this was said and done, Mlodzinski would go on to pitch an additional 11 up and down innings in the AFL; ending the 30 game season with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.273 WHIP, with 9 Ks and 5 walks.

When taking all of this into consideration, does this honestly appear to be a pitcher who is ready for MLB action anytime in 2022? At this time it’s a pretty resounding no for me; and, I think I would be hard pressed to find too many that would disagree. Could this outlook change? Well, obviously. Carmen Mlodzinski is a talented pitcher, with lot of potential. Still, the facts remains that in the past five years he has pitched a total of 174.1 innings, boasts a combined 4.08 ERA and a 1.308 WHIP and probably has only experienced success in about 10 starts during this time.

Moving forward, it almost goes without saying that the expectations for Mlodzinski in 2022 are directly tied to health; most likely beginning with the desire to have a solid start in Altoona. Beyond that pretty much anything is possible. Except for contributing in any meaningful way at PNC by the end of this season. That’s probably a little bit too much to ask; or to predict/project if that’s your thing.

The CBA Situation is Reaching a Head

2-2-22 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

This subject is touchy.

As human beings, we’re pre-programmed to pick winners and losers, guilty and innocent, right or wrong, and when discussing how this process is progressing, that’s amplified because the dividing lines are murky at best.

Oh sure, you have the owners and the players, but within those two larger entities you have small markets, mid markets, large markets, high priced elite players, every day ham and eggers, and prospects. Agents (especially one) are of course involved, somewhere along the line the government has put their thumb in the pie.

And then waaaaay over here somewhere are the fans. That’s my focus. Not in an effort to declare one side or entity is more interested in serving the fans, as much as to point out how very much so the concerns of those who actually dictate the existence and long term success of MLB simply don’t earn even a hint of consideration.

Oh, they’ll say things about the fans, like ‘our fans deserve better’ or ‘we want to ensure the best product for our fans’ but nobody actually proposes anything that would actually address the concerns of fans. Nobody ever really acknowledges the repeated damage done to a game that the stewardship of has become more of a club than a business that believes the customer is always right.

Baseball isn’t dying. It gets said constantly, all the way back to the 60’s, but the league itself still brings in plenty of dough and most owners are doing quite well. In fact the only entity not absolutely crushing it are the young players and mid range talents.

Today, I’m going to outline where we are after the last round of talks and I think we should try to outline beyond the negotiation points, what fans actually want. Not necessarily the methods, but the outcomes.

Before we get into it, if you need a refresh on where we were, check out this piece I wrote a couple weeks back.

That was a summary of where things stood after the owners proposed their last major proposal, now we’re going to talk about the movement, and roadblocks that are starting to form.

Pre-Arb Bonus Pool

OK, so this is a weird concept. MLBPA would like young players who aren’t quite ready for arbitration to make more money than the league minimum (even though the two sides are discussing increasing the minimum). This would specifically effect players like Vlad Guerrero or Randy Arozarena. The execution of this concept, AKA how they’d calculate these bonuses is hard to nail down, but that’ll come if this has legs.

What’s important is, these bonuses would come from a pool of cash, filled by the league, and paid y the league. The owners offered 10 million for this pool and offered some examples of how it would have effected specific players. Vlad for example would have gone from his base of $635,400, to $1.843 million. The players countered with $105 Million for this pool.

In the latest counter they lowered their ask to $100 million.

If you take nothing else from this piece, take this, when two sides are $95 million apart, and right up against missing the start of Spring Training, then one side moves all of $5 million, it’s not going well.

I expect the owners either to withdrawal this offer all together or demand the players measurably move on this subject.

Draft Picks for Rostering Prospects

The league presented an idea to incentivize rostering prospects for an entire season to supposedly cut down on service time manipulation. In this counter the players essentially said they don’t hat the idea but they want youngsters to be able to earn a full year of service time based on WAR and award voting.

Now, I personally don’t know how a “top” prospect will be identified. If it’s based on lists from writers, that’s a little weird, I mean look no further than the differences in Baseball America and the Athletic’s rankings of the top 100 to see where my concern lies. Someone would have to either decide who is the “bible” and who isn’t, and that just seems impossible to assign to someone just trying to cover and evaluate prospects. WAR is more unforgiving and less subjective, so I have no issue with that aspect.

Either way, the players want Super 2 gone all together, and the owners are on record that this is a non-starter.

Revenue Sharing

Players are still all about wanting a reduction in Revenue Sharing, the idea being that the teams that spend would have more to do so. They’d also like to increase the CBT (Competitive Balance Tax) by upwards of 40 million. These concepts kinda go hand in hand.

As we’ve said before, there were only 7 teams within shouting distance of the faux cap in 2021 so this won’t effect much beyond making the rich a little richer with talent.

This subject wasn’t broached in the latest rebuttal, but again, the owners are on record that decreasing revenue sharing by on red cent is a non-starter.

Conclusion

That’s it for what was discussed in the 90 minute, reportedly contentious meeting. This isn’t encouraging if you’re looking for the crack of the bat this month in Bradenton.

It really does show how far apart these two sides are, and I’ll be completely blunt here, these aren’t even the most difficult of subjects these sides have yet to consider.

The Owners are scheduled for the annual meeting next week, and while I have no real knowledge here, I’ll make an educated guess. I’d bet we don’t see any further meetings between the sides with formal proposals until the week of the 13th. That all but damns Spring Training starting on time.

I get the impression the owners would pretty much take the system we’ve had in place, with the DH, extended playoffs and modest increases to the minimum salary structure and the CBT threshold.

The players want significant change to the young talent spectrum and to the CBT, but we’ll soon find out how important they are.

There is a path to get this done and get back to playing, but if the players or owners don’t take a much larger step toward each other, we could really see this thing escalate. For you cap enthusiasts, escalation is your friend.

The Forgotten Group – Fans

For the most part, no matter what you want to see or who you think is right you want one thing, baseball. No stoppage of work, no lockout, no strike, just play baseball.

That’s not to say you can’t look at the stuff that even this piece outlined and see there is a problem, it’s more to say some have no stomach for this.

I think it’s safe to say most fans want a fair league, one that pays players well and gives every team a chance to win and more so have it not be like catching bigfoot on video when your team does.

Neither side has put forward much more than lip service on this front. Sure, the league says competitive balance but they only say it in an effort to pretend they care about this issue more than restricting salaries.

In fact, if I’m honest, where we are as of right now, the situation for competitive balance actually stands to get worse, not better.

The owners proposal of a lower CBT and a salary floor was promising, even if not enough to 100% fix the game. Now that they’ve removed it all together, there is nothing left on the table that anyone could argue will help the teams that can’t keep up with the Jones’. I’ve seen some math from Baseball Prospectus’ Editor-in-Chief that suggest every team based on just local and national TV money, before even factoring in revenue sharing each team could afford $100 million. I’ll not dispute that, even without seeing the sources, even while acknowledging it’s at least a little short on depth. Teams spend a bunch of money on other things so I don’t think it’s quite as easy as what was presented, but I still think it’s reasonable to expect. Feel free to read his thread.

Thing is, the league quite literally already proposed it, and while some of you will throw on the cape for the players here and point out it came with a reduction to CBT, the math tells us that this simple change of $100-180 million would increase the amount of money players are paid, and increase competitive balance. Reality is, the players don’t care about any consequence of a system like this beyond the fact that at it’s very core, it’s a cap system. Period.

Now, you as a fan don’t care what it’s called. You’d just like to see some accountability. Some spending by everyone on all ends of things, a bit of a tightening of the gap between the top and bottom spenders. You aren’t looking for a winner or loser, you just want competition, fairness and everyone to win.

I don’t say this in an effort to paint the owners as altruistic by way of proposing this, I say it to illustrate why transformative change simply isn’t coming by everyone pretending these sides will just get it one day. It’ll come by strongarm tactics. Sad but true.

The lockout was put in place because with no CBA and the sides this far apart, this was going to lead to a strike. The owners don’t have to look back too far to see what trusting in season negotiations led to. Back in 1994 we lost half a season and a World Series to a strike, one that was initiated because the two sides were close to an agreement before Spring Training and felt they could hammer out the details while still playing ball. Well, once they started playing, the players realized they were now the side who held the cards, and they went all in, soundly defeating the owners and setting forth much of the broken system we watch today.

Zero chance owners allow that again.

Fans don’t get a say, again. And neither side is poised to step up and speak for the silent majority here, you know, us.

I’ve done this before, but this is the math based on publicly available payroll figures.

4.041 Billion Total Payroll
– 80 Million (That’s how much is lost by lowering the CBT based on who would have to cut back)
= 3.961 Billion

Now add up how much every team needs to spend to hit the floor from where they are right now of which there are 14 teams.

3.961 Billion
+ 531 Million in new payroll money to meet the floor
= 4.492 Billion

That’s an overall increase of 451 million dollars infused into the players salaries.

As a fan, you look at that and think win/win right? Back to the original point, the biggest and arguably most important segment of individuals to the game don’t get a representative. If we did, this idea right here would be actively massaged into existence.

Be mad at who you like, both sides should wear it and deserve it, but be more upset that you at the end of the day are the one who isn’t being listened to.

Rebuilding The Pirates, With David Samson

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-j5s5c-1194837

David Samson ran two front offices for the Montreal Expos and Miami Marlins. He has done a few rebuilds and won a World Series. So, what does he think about what the Pittsburgh Pirates are doing? We ask questions and get some honest evaluations from the front office veteran. Hear how he evaluates Ben Cherington so far, and how he feels the current CBA negotiations will end.

Craig Toth covers the Pirates for Inside The Bucs Basement, and joins his buddy Chris at a 9-foot homemade oak bar to talk Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball. Listen. Subscribe. Share. It’s “30 Minutes Of Bucs” and THE Pirates Fan Podcast found EVERYWHERE podcasts can be found and always at BucsInTheBasement.com!

Five Pirates Thoughts at Five

1-31-22 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

Well, the Super Bowl is set. The Bengals and the Rams are set to square off in a small market vs massive market battle. I mean if this was a baseball event that’d be the narrative and most of the focus surrounding the game. Instead the consensus worst owner in professional sports Mike Brown (yeah, he’s actually had this moniker longer than Nutting) is headed to the biggest event in sports. The big market team, you know, who has to spend roughly the same amount of money as anyone else, completely mortgaged their future to take a big swing this year. They won’t have a number one pick until 2024. It’s just a different landscape folks, and it makes for a very invested fan base, league wide.

Sure wish Baseball would open their eyes.

Now onto the, um, baseball thoughts.

1. After This Week…

You can stop wondering if we’ll have a completely normal Spring and beginning to the season. Baseball has finally reached the point where the lockout actually starts to matter and while both sides are talking now, I don’t see them close enough to believe an agreement is coming this week.

The players don’t feel they’re being taken seriously, the owners don’t feel the players are making serious offers and even the national baseball writers like Buster Olney are starting to acknowledge how involved Scott Boras is on the tone and important issues from the player’s side of things.

Long story short, I don’t feel we’re in danger of missing a significant chunk of the regular season, but I do think we’re going to lose something, and the worst part is I think we’ll lose it for relatively nothing that really changes the game economically as it pertains to competitive balance.

2. Don’t Count Your Chickens, but…

I’ve seen some folks who have ramped back their rankings on Oneil Cruz, some have already started designing his bust for Cooperstown, most just hope he’s a good player. What makes this development system so encouraging is the shear number of guys who could be the next big thing. It could be Nick Gonzales, Quinn Priester, Liover Peguero, Roansy Contreras, Henry Davis, Oneil Cruz or it could easily be someone not ranked in baseball’s top 100 like Matt Fraizer or Miguel Yajure.

See the beauty is the Pirates don’t need any one of them to be a transformative player, they just need some of these guys to be in that conversation. Think back not all that long ago, remember when Kris Benson had to be a star or the team was screwed. Brad Lincoln was the same, and if or when they failed, the entire build was set back.

By stacking prospects the Pirates have better odds of having some break through, and better odds they can survive some of them not being the bees knees.

Spend time complaining about who’s ranked where right now if you like, but it only really matters if you plan to trade them and use the rankings as valuations. Since right now that’s not the case, it’s comforting to know they have this many guys with potential.

3. Pirates Turnover is Apparent

When looking through the team’s stats, something really jumped out to me, Games Played. Reality is, most of this team as it looks at least to start 2022 simply hasn’t played a lot of baseball.

Bryan Reynolds led the team with 159 ballgames, Kevin Newman followed with 148. The only other returning player to crack 100 is Ben Gamel with 111. Experience matters, and the Pirates don’t have much.

Thing is, nobody they brought in is really seasoned for games themselves, Roberto Perez has never played more than 119, and that was once. 73 was his second highest total, he’s not a likely provider of durability.

The games will come from somewhere, so maybe we shouldn’t worry so much about who wins what job, and focus more on the fact that they’ll wind up needing almost all of them.

In other words don’t freak out if your youngster of choice doesn’t make the club immediately, it sure seems like you’ll see most of them through attrition alone.

It’s part of why I chuckle a little when people act like they’re just returning the same roster next year expecting different results. You can criticize quite a few aspects of what they’ve done, or how they’ve approached it, but trotting out the same roster isn’t one of them.

4. Michael Chavis Might Well Be a Find

The power is real, the short sample size is too. Much like Bryse Wilson, Michael was very up and down having opportunity given and taken away fairly regularly.

The funny thing about him, in his rookie season he hit .254 with 18 dingers in 382 plate appearances, and somehow that wasn’t enough to get him consistent opportunity moving forward. He played 42 of his team’s 60 games in 2020 then scarcely played in 2021 before being moved to the Pirates.

He’s only 26 and many have already written him off as a dumpster dive. I can’t wait to see what he can do with more opportunity in 2022 and the DH will make sure he gets it on this team. There is potential he takes the pressure off Mason Martin or even Yoshi to perform at first as well.

Not all cast offs are made the same, and I honestly only looked closely when Jim Stamm brought him up on the show as his surprise pick to excel in 2022 on the Pirates Fan Forum last week. (On the homepage if you haven’t seen it)

5. Something I Never Thought I’d Miss

I’m fairly certain baseball will come back this season, but something I missed even while attending games last year was something I never imagined I would. I missed the vendors walking around and yelling at PNC. I missed the little quips during action from the unafraid homers carrying Mike’s Hard Lemonade or Cotton Candy.

I miss the open taunting of visiting fans when one of their stars struck out. The high fives after a big play shared with a stranger.

We got back in the stands last year, and I’m grateful, but now it’s time to get all the way back to normal. Hell, I hate Cracker Jack and might buy some just to complete the nostalgia overload I’m looking for.

Know what else while we’re at it? I missed having cash to tip the usher. Since the park went cashless I never remember to bring any and always feel bad. I’m just ready to be back, and as with every freedom that has been returned to us a new item to the list of things not to take for granted becomes clear.

Have a great week everybody.

Just Because They Haven’t, Doesn’t Mean They Shouldn’t

1-30-22 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

We spend a lot of time at Inside the Bucs Basement telling you what we think the Pirates will do. To some that comes across as an endorsement of their every decision. I’m here to tell you that’s a pretty rare case.

For instance, my gut says Michael Perez will likely be back as the backup catcher in 2022. As I look through the remaining free agent market and look over who might be available via the Rule 5 draft (if we have one), or examine who might be out there on the trade market, I just don’t see much more than competition for Michael being brought in.

That certainly doesn’t mean I like it or feel that’s good enough.

Another way this crops up is when we talk about extensions or free agent acquisitions. The Pirates should extend a few players, one of which is celebrating a birthday this week (Have a good one Bryan!) and unfortunately we are forced to look back on the history of this club when we discuss it. I say unfortunately because let’s face it, it’s rarely been for as long or as much as we fans would like to see.

Long way of saying, I think I have a good handle on what they’ll likely do, but I also think we need to not lock ourselves into Pirates Fan Syndrome. So today, let’s list off some things I think this team should/could do to maximize the effectiveness of what they’ve built in the development system. Because people always like lists, lets do 5 shall we?

1. Sign or Acquire a Top of the Rotation Pitcher

Ben Cherington has suggested that he’d like to bring in another starting pitcher. I’d argue if it’s more of the same type he’s signed in the past, you know, a 4th or 5th starter if not borderline bullpen arm, I’ll pass.

To me I’d like to see this club go and get someone that can really help lead this rotation and staff, a winner. Someone not unlike AJ Burnett was to this franchise who’s attitude permeates the entire staff with his personality.

Here are my two top asks. Johnny Cueto is first, and yes I know he’s not the pitcher he used to be, but he’s a seasoned veteran who is likely staring down the barrel at one year deals until he decides he’s done. So offer him two. He wouldn’t break the bank and he’d help provide some leadership, so long as you don’t expect him to win 20 games, I don’t think you’d be disappointed.

What? You can’t ever root for Johnny or think he’s too old? OK, well one more shot here. Swing a trade with Arizona for Madison Bumgarner. He’s 23 million per in 2022 and 2023 then drops to 14 in 2024. He’s only 32 and could really lead this rotation. Sure that’s expensive, but if you’re Arizona and in prospect acquisition territory it sure makes a ton of sense to get that salary off the books and potentially grab a nice top 15 prospect from arguably baseball’s best system. You didn’t think every one of these prospects was destined to be a Pirate did you?

It’s way more than this team ate for AJ, but inflation is a thing folks.

2. Lock In the Foundation

The Pirates have one player as of right now that I consider a lock to be one of the top 25 position players in the game and his name is Bryan Reynolds. You can have hope for anyone you like, point to all the projections you have available to you, but he’s the one who’s shown it for a sustained timeframe.

He also is controlled by the team through 2025. I hate that timeline. I hate what it does to this club if left unchanged, the timing of it, everything. The way I figure it, this team is on track to be a good, young and in the conversation club come 2023, and by 2024 I’d imagine divisions are on the table. I want nothing to do with Reynolds expiring in the middle of what they’re building here.

Imagine Cutch expiring in 2015, and worse, imagine the Pirates allowing it to happen. Full court press here to lock him up through at least 2027 if you ask me, and since this is my list of things I’d do, 2030. It isn’t going to be cheap, and guess what, it shouldn’t be, he’s going to be one of the best players you have for a decade by time all’s said and done.

And spare me that this isn’t something to worry about with this much time left of control. You know as well as I do if they don’t do anything he’s as good as gone by the end. If they let this just play out, he’ll contribute mightily and then turn into a comp pick because they got good enough to not be able to move him. Can’t stress enough how key this one is to this entire thing working.

The overall payroll doesn’t matter right this second, but if you’re looking for something an owner who’s learned from the past does, it’s step in right here and make sure his GM knows he has to get this one done.

Don’t muddy this by adding in Hayes either. He has a bit of show me left before we get there, and further more, his offer he’d get right now wouldn’t even entice him. Rightly so.

3. Don’t Waste Time on Players That Don’t Matter

If a roster decision comes down to a rookie who hasn’t proven anything yet, and a retread who has proven he simply hasn’t taken advantage of his opportunities, lean young.

If Anthony Alford looks like, well, Anthony Alford come May, enough. Move on to one of the plethora of options you have. If you’re afraid of ruining someone you simply don’t believe is developed and expect him to be in the long term plans, play someone like Bligh Madris. He’s been around a long time, give him a shot. I’d rather at least cross his name off the list than watch a guy I’m quite sure isn’t continue to whiff.

If Quintana turns out to not be able to provide what you hoped, don’t be afraid to use him in the pen, or simply cut ties.

This isn’t about predicting failure for everyone I mention, it’s more about saying don’t accept failure and pretend you don’t have options. That time is over.

This club is likely not ready to compete, but it sure as hell can be ready to stop acting like their hands are tied with no options in AAA to try. Put it this way, if their patience level with some of these fringe players last year was an 8 on a scale of 10 being the most patient, this year make it 5. Have to have answers this year and I don’t want to watch this club waste half a season working toward getting them.

4. Manage Like Winning Matters

The Pirates believe in Derek Shelton. That’s not a guess, it’s not even just a statement from the GM taken at face value. Every team insider has expressed the very real belief internally that they’ve gotten their guy here.

I know this will irritate some of you to no end since the decision was made long ago for many of you on this front, but since I know that this club doesn’t agree, time to show us the goods.

In the 7th inning up one run this season, how about not making us “see what this guy does” in that situation?

When the team is a decent Sunday performance away from getting a sweep this year, how about act like it matters and refrain from resting half of the lineup?

It’s things like that we fans take as a slap in the face. Many of us understand where this team is and what they’re trying to do, just as many of us can’t stand the thought of throwing up the white flag to the god of “evaluating” or “pre-determined rest”. Let me see more decisions that make me feel like teaching this group of kids to win matters more than the cause on your t-shirt this season.

There’s a whole lot of work that’s been done on this club and none of it matters if they hired and stick with the wrong guy to make it count. I’d like to think showing fans Mr. Shelton is that would be a good idea.

5. Leave the Lineup Alone, At least 2-5

I may sound like an old guy who hasn’t evolved with the times, but I’m a firm believer in the power of continuity. I think guys do better in a lineup when they start to feel comfortable about who’s around them. The DH should afford the Pirates an easier path to accomplishing this.

Take the 2-5 spots in the lineup, plant Reynolds, Hayes, Yoshi and say Chavis there and leave it go for a while. Let them work together, let Reynolds start to believe Hayes or Yoshi will move him around. Let Hayes believe a double isn’t fruitless because he trusts who follows him. I think the constant changes to the lineup create an environment that prevents guys from settling in.

Yes, I know lineups change, but most teams lock in the heart for the most part, and this team has some relatively easy choices for who that should be, so let’s not fight the right thing being the obvious thing too shall we?

Bring up someone new like Canaan Smith-Njigba and want to get him in there, fine by me, but do it for a while. Cruz is ready? Great, put him in a spot and let him soak there for a while. I simply don’t want to watch another season of getting 70 some games deep and realizing the same lineup has been used twice. Consistency is usually a heavy lift for a young team in the first place, so creating an environment that makes it even more difficult to achieve to me is just not good practice.

There’s my list. Five things I’d like to see from this team in 2022. I don’t expect miracles, but I’d like to see progress.

Through The Prospect Porthole: Trying To Make Sense of Lolo Sanchez’s Breakout Season

1-29-22 By Craig W. Toth (aka @BucsBasement on Twitter)

It’s that time of year again, when each of the major sites start to release their Top 100 Prospect lists; soon to be followed by every team’s Top 30 or so Minor League players for the upcoming season. As they do, fans will voice their positive and negative reactions as to where a particular player sits; much like many already did when Quinn Priester was ranked at 88 according to Baseball America, after coming in at 62 during the mid-season rankings back in July.

Once these initial reactions eventually die down, the predictions as to how a player should perform in 2022 and when they can be expected to reach the Majors will quickly follow; using the ETA given by the respective sites as a guide. That is unless they really like the prospect, in which case the timeline is often sped up.

It’s the same thing year in and year out. An endless cycle of emotions and projections, with the majority of the later failing to fully materialize.

For example, back in 2018 Lolo Sanchez-who at the time was set to start his 19 year-old season-was ranked as the Pirates #10 Prospect according to MLB Pipeline, as well as being #7 on Fangraphs. In that moment, expectations for Lolo couldn’t be higher.

Originally signed by Pittsburgh on July 2, 2015 for $450,000- the largest bonus given by the Pirates during this particular International Period-Sanchez started his professional career the following year by slashing .235/.359/.275 with 24 walks to 18 walks across 190 plate appearances in the DSL.

In spite of these underwhelming numbers he would earn a promotion to the Gulf Coast League-now the FCL-in 2017; where he responded by batting .284 with an .776 OPS, 4 homers and 21 walks to 19 Ks, all while playing playing a solid centerfield thanks in part to his 60 grade speed and above average-55 grade-arm. Hence the favorable prospect rankings, and an Estimated Time of Arrival at PNC of 2021.

Once again Sanchez would be moved up the ranks, landing at Low-A West Virginia to start 2018; a placement that was viewed as extremely aggressive by many experts. Unfortunately for him, this second advanced assignment in as many years was not nearly as successful. On the season Sanchez regularly struggled with his approach at the plate; doubling his strikeout rate from the previous year-8.1% to 16.3%. At the same time his numbers quickly fell in almost every other major and analytically driven category. His slugging tumbled from .417 to .328, his ISO plunged nearly 50 points to .085 and his wRC+ dropped below the league average; landing at 90, when it had been 123 in 2017.

Although there was one silver lining in all of this. At only 19, Sanchez had been 2.4 years younger than the average Low-A player. This meant that the choice to repeat the level at 20 still left him a full 1.5 years younger, with full season of experience under his belt.

In the end this decision paid off as he slashed .301/.377/.451 with 20 extra base hits, a .150 ISO and a 142 wRC+ with the newly affiliated Greensboro Grasshoppers; earning a promotion to the Marauders in High-A toward the end of June. For the most part this reward felt more like a punishment, at least as far as the stat sheet was concerned. In 195 plate appearances Sanchez hit a meager .196 with career lows in pretty much every category; from a .570 OPS to a 77 wRC+.

Due to this inauspicious showing after his mid-season bump to Bradenton, Sanchez found himself as the only Top 30 Prospect on MLB Pipeline-that was in their first year of eligibility-who was wasn’t protected from the Rule 5 Draft.

Then the pandemic hit. For young men such as Lolo a year of development was clearly lost, which I alway felt could be more detrimental to him because of the way the previous season ended. However, at that point it was more of a waiting game to see how Sanchez and the other Pirates Prospects would emerge on the other side.

Coming into 2021 there were a few aspects of Lolo’s development and/or approach to the game that were becoming abundantly clear. First of all, he struggled with a promotion, but also showed he could be successful the second go-around. Next was that he had the ability to utilize his speed on the base paths, although his judgement was not alway the best concerning when to take advantage of it. In four professional seasons Sanchez had stolen a total of 81 bases, yet he was caught 43 times. Finally, the young man was a pull hitter. Outside of his first season in the DL-where the breakdown was 42.6% Pull/27% Center/30.5% Oppo-Sanchez had made a habit of pulling the ball at a rate between 54.3% and 57.5%; while also pounding the ball into the ground approximately 40 to 50% of the time.

When the season eventually started after a month delay, it would be a return to Greensboro-the site of his successful first half in 2019-and a repeat of High-A-the level he had struggled at that same year.

As has become second nature when looking at all Grasshopper players from this past season, the first thing I focus on is the home-road splits because of the bandbox known as First National Bank Field. Surprisingly, for Lolo it wasn’t nearly as friendly as it had been for several other players. In 220 plate appearances at home Sanchez slashed .225/.361/.393 with 8 homers, versus a .301/.391/.507 slash-line with 10 homers in 239 plate appearances on the road.

On the whole he added power with .190 ISO, showed more patience at the plate as evidenced by an increased walk rate-up over 10% for the first time since 2016-and improved his overall launch angle by dropping his ground ball rate to 33.9%. Nevertheless, a couple things that didn’t change were his decision making on the bases-stealing 30, while being caught 9-and his Pull Rate of 56.2%. A pattern that has continued even in his off-season training.

So, what changed? And, what can fans expect from Lolo during the upcoming Minor League Season? Well, after almost four years of tinkering with his swing, Sanchez was finally able to combine the skills of keeping his hands low and getting the bat through the zone in order to properly play to his strength of pulling the ball. In the end the contact was solid, and he added the necessary loft that his swing had been consistently lacking.

Now, as far as expectations go I am actually a little concerned because Lolo is probably due for another promotion to Double-A Altoona; and, if history has taught us anything, he usually struggles initially in these scenarios. Only this time I am not sure if he, or the Pirates can afford a second chance with the Curve in 2023. For one thing, his Minor League Free Agency is about to kick in, and for another, he’s already been left unprotected in the Major League Portion of the Rule 5 Draft three years straight; which is to say, it’s almost now or never at this point. Plus, regardless of how you try to spin it, 2021 is most definitely in the rear view mirror; with no way of going back.

Two Guys Talkin’ Trades – Chris Stratton

1-28-22 – By Justin Verno & Joe Boyd – @JV_PITT & Joe_Boyd11 on Twitter

Justin Verno – With news that the MLBPA and owners are finally talking about the big stuff, I think it’s time we got back on the horse. I get there are still a lot of questions, like “will there be “Winter Meetings?” and “how much will trades be affected by the ‘new economics’ of the CBA?” There will certainly be a lot to sort through when the deal is done, but in the end I don’t see the wheel being reinvented.

Joe Boyd – Hopefully you’re right, because that would require a complete overhaul of our schtick!  I think you mentioned that you wanted to talk about Stratton today, so let’s do that.  Stratton has always been a guy that I liked, and I’ve talked about why in this article series.  He has two years of control remaining and he’s rather consistent from a WAR perspective.  Typically, we look to ZiPS for an unbiased evaluation, so if we did that he would have 0.5 WAR of output combined over his next two seasons.  He has produced 0.6 WAR and 0.7 WAR in the last two seasons, so I’m going to err on bumping that up a bit.  My ARB projections are slightly higher than SPOTRAC’s so we’ll call it a wash.  I have him projected at 0.6 WAR this year and 0.5 for 2023 and a total salary for those years at $5.61M.  If we go with those numbers, Justin, I have his Surplus Value at $4.17M.

JV – And to many that won’t sound like a lot, but Ben Cherington can likely get an overpay here for Stratton as relievers with his consistency are rare. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Cherington gets a haul, just an overpay.  Stratton has flexibility out of the pen, he can close, he can put out a fire or even give you a stretch of innings. I imagine the interest will be there. In short, he’d be an asset to every team in the majors.

JB – Trade Partner – Boston Red Sox 

I’ve been on the record saying that I don’t think Stratton should move.  You can trade anything that’s not nailed down, but having a true asset in the bullpen is valuable for any team.  But you came here to see what the value of a guy like Stratton might be, so I’ll just roll with it.  

Noah Song SP – ETA: 2024 – FV 45 ($4M) 

Song is an interesting prospect as he has a 2-year commitment to the Navy.  Let’s let Longenhagen explain in his scouting report:  “Song did not pitch in 2020 and instead began his two-year military commitment, which is just as well since there was no minor league season and next year’s might start later than usual. I’ve updated some of the stuff related to his commitment’s timing, but his scouting report is exactly the same: It’s fairly common for a prospect’s trade value to be affected by something circumstantial, but Song’s situation is unique. He was clearly a first round talent ahead of the 2019 draft, but it was unclear where he’d be picked because of his military commitment. At the time, service academy policy stated that Song had to complete two years of Naval service, after the Trump administration repealed an Obama-era rule that allowed athletes to petition for an exemption in order to pursue pro sports or some other activity that might bolster recruitment or the military’s image in general. Then, weeks after Song was drafted, the now-outgoing president reinstated the rule, with the exemption slated to take effect again in 2020. But Song’s application for a retroactive waiver was denied by the Navy. He is eligible to apply for an early release in May.”

So that’s a lot, right?  Well if he can get the early release in May, this is a great move for the Pirates as they didn’t have to be in limbo with this commitment issue and they got a guy with some serious ceiling.  He touches 99mph and has a plus slider and a ‘rainbow’ curve.  There’s a huge risk here that he has lost a step or two during his military commitment, but that’s why they’ll throw in one more player.

Juan Chacon – CF – ETA: 2024 – 40 FV ($2M)

Back to Longenhagen, “his speed gives him a shot to play center field and his physical projection gives him a chance to grow into power. While his bat-to-ball skills haven’t impressed (quite yet), and he doesn’t have the present power of some of the system’s other teenagers, there’s still Goldilocks Zone potential here because of Chacon’s speed, frame, and explosiveness.”

Chacon is a lottery ticket to sweeten the pot for the Pirates in the off-chance Song has regressed significantly.

JV – Here’s a guy Joe and I disagree on. I really like Stratton, but with two years of control, he just doesn’t project to be part of the team when the Big Time Talent arrives. I also consider Stratton to be the last realistic trade piece that carries real value. Not to say the Buccos don’t have other names they could look at moving–a Kevin Newman? But Newman currently has little value. Outside of a team deciding to pay a king’s ransom for Reynolds, I think Stratton is the last trade piece out there. 

Trade partner – Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays were seemingly attached to every potential trade piece that took the mound for the Buccos last year. It’s also become evident that Joe and I love using Cherington’s former employers. 

Gunnar Hoglund- SP -ETA: 2024 – 45 FV ($4M)

The Pirates drafted Hoglund in the first round (comp), 36th overall in 2018. It appeared they had a contract in place, but that contract was never signed. I have no context on that. The oddity here is that it was under GM Neal Huntington, not Ben Cherington. The catch? Hoglund had TJS after being pulled from a start late last year. This was unfortunate, as he was looking like a high 1st rounder at the time. Gunnar has great control and a solid 3 pitch mix. His fastball sits 90-94 and tops off at 96 mph, and standing at 6’5” 210 lbs there could be a little more velo coming, giving him an FV of 50. The change-up is a work in progress but a solid 50 FV. His money offering is the slider which has an FV of 60. He can spot his slider due to his FV 70 grade for control. He’s really advanced and should fly through the system once up and running. Don’t  take my word for it–here’s what Longenhagen had to say about it,

 “TJ rehab or not, Hoglund has a great chance to be one of the first players from this class to reach the big leagues because of how advanced he is.” 

Nabbing Hoglund would be a fantastic return for Cherington and his staff. However, a player who had TJS will always have a red flag attached to him and with that in mind Ben needs a sweetener. 

CJ Van Eyk- SP – ETA: 2023 – FV 40+ ($3M)

CJ is an interesting prospect. The stuff is there, but the opinions are split due to his overall inconsistencies.  When his delivery is clean and repeated the results are fantastic but he has issues in that area such as falling off  and often pitching off balance. If a team cleans all that up they’ll have a pretty good starter with a 4 pitch mix. His 50 FV fastball can hit 97 and sits 92-95. His slider and change both grade out with a 55 FV. And the 4 pitch mix is rounded off by a curveball with a 50 FV. He misses more bats with the curve and fastball but all 4 are swing and miss offerings.  CJ has a lot of what you look for in a starter but he needs to put it together on an outing to outing basis. Here’s what fangraphs had to say on his inconsistencies.

“On bad nights — or even just during bad innings — he’ll lose feel for the glove-side half of the plate entirely.” -Eric Longenhagen 

This will need to be fixed if he is to stay in the rotation. 

Closing Statements:

JB – The package from Boston would work on paper.  There’s enough potential with both of those players that it would be hard for Cherington to say no to his former employer.  Someone who is analytically inclined like GM Chaim Bloom, would have to see the raw materials of Stratton and see the value in making a move like this.  In the end, I would think that Stratton does move, but a deadline deal may be best for all involved.  I’d like to see what Stratton can do on a contender as he has the versatility to flourish in the post-season.  If I had my druthers, he stays in the Steel City but I understand the value in moving him. 

JV – I may have bit off more than the Blue Jays want to chew in this package, but with the division they are in they need all the pitching they can get. I think Cherington would be ecstatic with this package. 

Joe, Cherington is in an excellent position with Stratton. If he doesn’t like what he hears he can always take his ball and go home and try again at the deadline. You’re absolutely right, the deadline might be best here, but I have  a feeling teams will be anxious out of the lockout and we see some moves fall down pretty quickly. (Hell, I have a sneaking suspicion that GM’s never stopped talking)

My Baseball Fandom Was Built on a Lie

1-26-22 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

Yesterday it became official.

Most of the guys that this former kid looked up to and looked forward to watching will not be elected to the Hall of Fame. No Bonds, no Clemens, neither Sosa or McGwire, all deemed cheaters, all out for the foreseeable future.

I’m not here to argue about it. They cheated, and this is the result. I don’t care about the perceived hypocrisy either, if I could find 5% of voters who elected Gaylord Perry then turned around and voted no on Bonds, I’d be shocked.

No, my point really is we’ve taken an entire generation of fans and told them your foundational fan moments were all built on the backs of cheating. A big lie that baseball allowed to go on long enough to have the issue effect Hall voting for over two decades by time all is said and done.

When I went to Cooperstown with my Dad way back when, I remember his real and vivid memories he shared about watching Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Roberto Clemente, Joe Morgan, and so many more. Now, my dad isn’t even what you’d consider a sports fan, but he knew I was, and he pushed aside his own awful upbringing to understand what going to the Hall would mean for me.

I’m not completely on empty myself. I have guys like Pudge, Junior, parts of Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith, ya know, it’s not all bad, but it’s also hard to look at who’s not in and pretend the hall still represents what I considered great as I grew up. It’s hard to take your kids there and share memories that don’t involve those guys, even if I’m talking about someone who did get in.

See, it was easy for me to be callous about Pete Rose. He wasn’t my hero, he wasn’t someone I grew up watching, he was also just one guy. So when I heard people a little older than me gnashing teeth and seeming physically pained that he wasn’t going to get in, I guess I just kinda thought, well, that’s what he gets for gambling on the game or whatever.

Now it’s the guys I grew up with, and some of the people that still hold onto Rose are completely fine with this crop being left out. Almost like it’s just deserts for never understanding their pain.

I really think it’s generational. Let’s say Greenies were brought into the light and everyone you grew up watching in the 70’s had to go on trial as to whether they ever took them, or knew people who did. Have books written about how rampant it was in every locker room. Former trainers talk about how out of their minds some would get on them. And ultimately keep them all out of the hall.

Imagine the better part of a decade, where even players who somehow slipped through at least had a hint of suspicion attached to them.

That’s the scene for a 90’s kid, and I am already bracing for how the league handles anyone who played for the Astros when they come up.

Again, I’m not here to argue about it, or crap on the voters. I’m not here to pretend roids didn’t effect the game or help players in any way. I don’t need to pretend that everyone was doing it, in an effort to say it should be overlooked. I’m simply saying for a game that is so dependent on history and nostalgia, it’s mortifying to have entire swaths of players banished from the lexicon, even while the records they shattered still stand.

I don’t think there’s a fix for this, and I don’t think that there needs to be. Sometimes just talking about the emotions that this brings to the surface is for the sake of therapy alone. I do wish some of the voters would at least recognize it’s not something to take joy in, it’s certainly not something to be rubbing in the face of fans. It’s a painful, and I’d argue willful stain on the game that everyone from player to owner participated in and or turned a blind eye to. That doesn’t scream the need for gleeful self adulation about your vote one way or another.

Part of me is happy that the clock has run out on most of these guys now, at least it won’t be the prominent topic it’s been come next year. A bigger part of me is just sad that what I rooted for, grew up with and cherished are little more than punchlines for tweets and talk show fodder.

None of this makes me want to go relitigate the past inductees mind you. I don’t need to judge their moral fiber and hold them up to the social standards we’ve adopted today. Society has changed, but that’s happened slowly. Things that were completely acceptable a century ago, aren’t today. Things that are fine today won’t be in a hundred years.

I guess what I’m really saying is, I get why it is, but accepting it doesn’t mean I have to pretend it makes me happy. I have a feeling I’ll die believing Barry Bonds was the best baseball player I ever saw in person, and he’s not in the Hall of Fame. Why and how don’t really matter beyond that, and it simply sucks.

Sometimes that’s enough. Not everything has to have blame, or workarounds, solutions. Sometimes a situation just stinks. For me, this is one of those times, and I hope my generation is the last to feel it.