Silly Season

Forget about Thanksgiving and Christmas, “the holidays,” if you will. Between now and the end of the winter meetings early next month, we’re officially in the silly season of baseball. Allow me these examples: free-agent shortstop Xander Bogaerts to the White Sox (mlb.com); the White Sox signing infielder Jean Segura (ditto); the Sox trading Liam Hendriks, Gavin Sheets, minor-leaguer Yoelqui Cespedes and $10 million to the Blue Jays for catcher Alejandro Kirk (The Athletic). Where do I even start? How about the Sox would never pay what Bogaerts wants? How about all the heavy lifting needed to switch Tim Anderson to second base? How about asking what makes Segura so special? How about respectfully wondering about Kirk’s weight (265 pounds on a 5’8” frame) and arm (a career caught-stealing rate of twenty-two percent)? But, like I said, this is the silly season, so silly in fact that the sage considering the Kirk-to-the-Sox deal thought Toronto wouldn’t be getting enough in return. Happy, silly, holidays, everyone.

Motivation

On Friday, Bulls’ coach Billy Donovan pulled star guard Zach LaVine with 3:43 left in the fourth quarter against the visiting Magic. Why? LaVine shooting 1-for-14 on the night may have had something to do with it. The Bulls being the Bulls, they went on to lose 108-107 on a three-pointer by Jalen Suggs with 4.1 seconds left. Too bad Donovan didn’t sit center Nikola Vucevic while he was at it. That way, Vucevic wouldn’t have been around to miss two free throws ahead of Suggs’ game-winning shot. Vucevic does what he’s supposed to, his team wins and maybe LaVine wouldn’t be so upset. After the game, he made it clear to reporters he wanted to be out there. Last night, against the Eastern-Conference leading Celtics, who were on a nine-game winning streak, he was. LaVine scored twenty-two points with five rebounds and five assists in a Bulls’ 121-107 victory. Advantage…? You tell me. Donovan wants his best players to produce. Game in and game out, he can depend on forward DeMar DdRozan, Vucevic and LaVine not so much. How better to motivate a player than by sending a message? By my count, a certain center needs one, too.

Justin Fields, The Natural

Pardon me for mixing my sports, but Bears’ second-year quarterback Justin Fields keeps reminding me of Robert Redford/Roy Hobbs in “The Natural.” The kid on the football field is like the old guy in the movie in that they both possess a ton of talent. What gets me is all the forces arrayed against Fields’ success, just like in the movie. Yesterday in Atlanta, Bears’ offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and head coach Matt Eberflus both did spot-on imitations of Harriet Bird. Or was it Max Mercy, or the Judge, or Gus Sands (somebody explain to me again why Darren McGavin went uncredited for what has to be the best role of his life)? Any or all of them desperately want Hobbs out of commission, if not dead. Getsy and Eberflus would be different how, exactly? They are literally running their young star into the ground. Preparing for the Falcons’ game, Fields said his legs were feeling heavy. No matter. He ran the ball eighteen times, one more than running back David Montgomery. Was calling a run with 1:38 left in the game and the Munsters down by three just dumb, or were Getsy and Eberflus doing their best Gus Sands? I can see one or more of the McCaskey clan conniving a la The Judge (thank you, Robert Prosky, for personifying oleaginous evil, happiest in dark places). They don’t want Fields dead. No, they just want to monetize him for the benefit of the family fortune, holy be the name of Halas. The Judge knew enough baseball to understand talent along with its limits. If only the McCaskeys were near as smart. They and their coaching staff seem to think they can run their best player again and again, game after game, without consequences. But life ain’t Hollywood. There’ll be no happy endings here if the Munsters don’t figure out—and fast—the best way to use Justin Fields.

Dollars and Sense

Clare called last night to say, “I have bad news for you.” And what, pray tell, would that be? “The White Sox non-tendered Adam Engel and Danny Mendick.” Clare is at that point in her life where she’s the same age as certain players. That would include Engel (she’s three weeks older) and Mendick, sort of (two years and two months older). For me, it was Brian Downing and Jim Morrison. Maybe it’s a family thing. General manager Rick Hahn released a statement in which he reiterated how “a lot of consideration and analysis” goes into the decision to forego the arbitration process with a player. But, hey, they could come back because Hahn plans to “stay in contact with all three players [also non-tendered was outfielder Mark Payton] and evaluate their ongoing fit with our club as we move forward through this offseason.” Spoken like a true flannel mouth. I root for the underdog. As a White Sox fan, how could I not? Engel came out of nowhere in 2017 to make a name for himself with his glove. If only he were half as talented with his bat. Do the Sox need a lifetime .224 hitter as a fourth or fifth outfielder? No, but it’s a bad look to cut ties with a player who, for six years, has hustled and delighted fans by stealing homeruns from the opposition. Last time I checked, Engel was the one who took the blame for running into that outfield triple play against the Twins in July. Nice way to reward a team player. Ditto Mendick, who embodies the grinder ethic that those of us on the South Side adhere to. Last time I checked, Mendick tore his ACL trying to make a great catch and keep Lucas Giolito in a game. Nice way to reward effort, especially when Hahn mentioned Mendick as part of the mix at second base for next season. Here’s a thought. Maybe if Hahn didn’t throw money after the likes of Dallas Keuchel and Yasmani Grandal, there’d be something left over for players who deserve better. Waste not, want not, Rick.

Reading Between the Lines

Wow. A White Sox story in today’s Tribune, which just happens to draw on the same material as the pice on the team website. Long story short, Royals’ catcher Salvador Perez pretty much loves new Sox manager Pedro Grifol. In the Trib story, Perez mentioned Grifol’s ability to “communicate” while pitcher Dylan Cease said Grifol told him “we were going to be having a lot of communication and building relationships.” Hmm. What about twice ex-manager Tony La Russa? Did he communicate and build relationships with his players? Or did he expect his players to know all the unwritten rules of baseball and intuit their roles based on his facial expressions? I go with door no. 2.

Apples and Oranges, or Not

Dylan Cease of the White Sox finished second in AL Cy Young voting, with Justin Verlander picking up his third award. Good for Cease. Maybe someday he’ll put up stats equal to the Sox pitchers of my youth. On the other hand, he may already have done that, if you believe baseball-reference.com. Cease went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA; 227 strikeouts vs.78 walks; and a WHIP of 1.109 in 184 innings on the season. Plug those numbers into the magic algorithm, and he comes out with a WAR of 6.4, tops for qualifying starters in the American League. Still, I wonder. Gary Peters went 20-8 with a 2.50 ERA in 273.2 innings for the ’64 Sox, yet the magic algorithm gives him a mere 4.2 WAR. Joel Horlen went 19-7 with a 2.06 ERA in 258 innings for the Hitless Wonders of 1967, one of those wins being a no-hitter against the Tigers. But Horlen merits only a 5.5 WAR. Who was the better pitcher? You tell me. I’ll use WAR to hope Cease can top what Wilbur Wood accomplished in 1971—a won-loss record of 22-13 with a 1.91 ERA in 334 (!) innings. That all comes out to an 11.8 WAR. Hit that mark, Dylan, and the Sox are the going to the World Series.

All Over the Place

First, my daughter called yesterday to say she’d scored Taylor Swift tickets at Soldier Field next June, not to be confused with her scoring a seat in the audience to see Michelle Obama on the Today Show in NYC. Unfortunately, Daddy called dibs on the family jet for Monday, and Clare will have to wait until next month to see the former First Lady, when she comes to the Chicago Theater on her book tour. But I mustn’t be too much the ogre-dad. Clare called a second time—when I was on the phone talking with someone about the upcoming Rule 5 draft—to tell me that ex-White Sox reliever Bobby Jenks was named manager of the year in the Pioneer League. Good for Bobby. There were actually two Rule-5 draft stories in the Trib today, one for each Chicago team. As a baseball fan, I feel blessed. After reading those, I drove out to Half Price Books, the best and worst of places at the same time. I doubt if I got pennies on the dollar for two boxes full of books. The Progressive historian Charles Beard must be worth a lot less than I figured. But I nearly made enough to pay for the Mickey Mantle biography and the account of Jackie Robinson’s 1947 season. I actually know one of the authors. Won’t he be happy to find out his one book is selling, no royalties accrued?