By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Pace of play pablum. Plus: Flaming Fastballs & Exploding Bats; Spring Cubs; The Ex-Cub Factor; The White Sox Are Also Participating In Spring Training; The Bulls Are The New White Sox Who Are The New Cubs; Blackhawks Even Sadder This Week Than Last Week; The Bears’ Deja Rebuild; and Arch Madness!
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SHOW NOTES
* 190.
:55: Flaming Fastballs, Exploding Bats And Mic’d-Up Caps.
* MLB’s Pace Of Play Rules For 2018.
* MLB Teams To Make $50 million Each From Disney Purchase Of BAMtech.
* Was Fox’s Glowing Puck The Worst Blunder In TV Sports History, Or Was It Just Ahead Of Its Time?
* Ghost viewers!
* TV take:
And when TV contracts are driving that large a portion of your revenues, that motivates change.
— Mat Germain (@MatGermain76) February 20, 2018
* Joe Maddon Goes Deep On Impact Of Limiting Mound Visits.
* Gonzalez: Willson Contreras Working To Improve Pitch Framing By Refining His Skills As A ‘Receiver.’
20:22: Spring Cubs.
* Haugh: Out Of Thin Air, Tyler Chatwood Hardly A Fifth Wheel For The Cubs.
* Jon Lackey Lester.
* BenZo.
* Gonzalez: Ian Happ Happy Now After Learning To Adjust To The Cubs On The Fly Last May.
* Ian Happ: The Fourth Beatle.
* Gonzalez: Kris Bryant Wants To Take A Simpler Approach To Hitting This Season.
* Buddy Bryce.
33:47: The Ex-Cub Factor.
* Junior Lake sighting!
Chatwood induces a ground ball double play from Junior Lake with two on to end the top of the first.
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) February 26, 2018
Lake is on a minor-league deal with the Mariners.
* Seattle Times: Dan Vogelbach’s Got His Smile Back, And He’s Hoping It Will Help The Mike Montgomery Trade Pay Off.
* Detroit Free Press: Tigers’ Travis Wood Out For Season With Torn ACL, Meniscus.
37:03: The White Sox Are Also Participating In Spring Training.
* White Sox Prospect Jake Burger Out For Season With Ruptured Achilles.
* White Sox Having Difficulty Keeping Top Prospects On Field.
* Hector Santiago Glad To Be ‘Back Home’ With White Sox.
* Welington Castillo Returns To Chicago With ‘Newfound Respect.’
45:10:The Bulls Are The New White Sox Who Are The New Cubs.
* Are NBA Teams Utilizing ‘Inverse Analytics’ To Aid Tanking?
50:41: Blackhawks Even Sadder This Week Than Last Week.
* Blackhawks Lose 7th Straight Road Game After Giving Up 7 Straight Goals.
* Blackhawks Have Eyes On Future After Dealing Ryan Hartman And Tommy Wingels.
* Arty:
Per a source, the #CBJ did indeed inquire about Artem Anisimov’s availability, but only offered a third-round pick, and wanted the Blackhawks to retain half Anisimov’s salary. Went nowhere. Anisimov was approached about waiving his NMC, though.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 26, 2018
56:55: The Bears’ Deja Rebuild.
* Pace restarts the clock:
Hard to imagine many other teams in the league that would have that many captains exiting at once.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) February 26, 2018
Bears have cut OLB Pernell McPhee and S Quintin Demps. Not shocking. Still notable.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) February 26, 2018
Pace also reveals that the team is letting Willie Young go.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) February 28, 2018
Ryan Pace on Jan. 1: “As we continue to build more through the draft, we can continue to be a little more selective in free agency. … We will get better in that area. But primarily our goal is to build through the draft and develop those players.”
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) February 26, 2018
LOL.
* Who?
Albert Wilson a WR target for Bears in free agency? @ChiTribKane was there when Chiefs GM Brett Veach addressed the situation: https://t.co/qJ1qgCqYTa
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) March 2, 2018
* Pouring one out for Matt Forte.
1:03:35: Arch Madness!
* Loyola’s To Lose.
Note: After this podcast was recorded but before it was posted, Loyola beat UNI 54-40 in the opening round of their conference tournament.
* Meanwhile, about that DePaul arena . . .
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STOPPAGE: 10:52
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Comments welcome.
Posted on March 2, 2018