The loudest noise on the 2023 MLB winter conferences got here on Day 1 when a Japanese reporter fell asleep on his laptop computer within the media room and snored at a decibel degree rivaling a heavy metallic band in a small membership.
With no blockbuster trades or mega signings to announce through the conferences — the Juan Soto deal got here to mild late Wednesday night time — baseball needed to resort to different information, together with the Hall of Fame election of supervisor Jim Leyland, to maintain the annual three-day conferences from being an entire snoozefest.
Even an incident of Cubs President Jed Hoyer snapping at USA Today reporter Bob Nightengale over a social media publish drew media consideration again in Chicago, displaying how occasions have modified. Executives snapping at reporters is a narrative as outdated as the sport itself. Only on this age is it thought of newsworthy sufficient to be dissected on sports-talk radio.
So nothing a lot occurred, and a ton of media needed to have one thing to write down and discuss after spending cash to come back to the Gaylord Opryland Resort for baseball’s conventional offseason infomercial.
If MLB Network had aired the raucous BBWAA assembly as an alternative of getting its speaking heads let normal managers and managers drone on about how nice their groups will likely be in 2024, the rankings would’ve been a lot greater.
As the groups, brokers and media made their means out of city Wednesday, listed below are three different issues we discovered.
1. The White Sox are transferring. Eventually. But in all probability to not Nashville.
The Sox confirmed Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf’s stealth assembly with the mayor of Nashville after Politico reported the massive information. The Sox haven’t denied their curiosity find a brand new dwelling, and it appears solely pure for Reinsdorf to fulfill with the mayor of essentially the most logical metropolis for MLB enlargement to speak a few future partnership.
The Sox don’t need anybody to learn an excessive amount of into the assembly, after all, even because it riled up an already offended fan base. It appears extra probably Nashville would like to carry out for an enlargement crew as an alternative of 1 that’s in teardown mode and taking a look at an extended rebuild, however who is aware of?
There’s little doubt the Sox hope to discover a new ballpark away from the South Side, whether or not it’s downtown, on the West Side or elsewhere. With six years left on the lease of their taxpayer-funded park and Reinsdorf turning 88 in a few months, time is of the essence.
2. ShoTime the Circus is getting weak opinions.
Cubs supervisor Craig Counsell has been round lengthy sufficient to know that curiosity in Shohei Ohtani’s touchdown spot would dominate the winter conferences, simply as different free-agent superstars have prior to now.
“As a baseball fan, we all want to know where the great players are going to play,” Counsell mentioned Tuesday.
Unfortunately for baseball followers, Ohtani desires to stem any information of negotiations, forcing some groups to stonewall questions on their curiosity.
It is not sensible for baseball’s largest star to need the information of his negotiations stored secret when MLB Network aired wall-to-wall protection of the conferences that his identify dominated.
When NBA free company begins in the summertime, each famous person’s potential touchdown spots turn out to be huge information, talked about incessantly by media and followers. Both the NBA and the gamers get free publicity that advantages the league and the gamers’ particular person manufacturers.
Not so with “ShoTime.” For a sport that simply had the lowest-rated World Series in historical past, this isn’t a very good look.
Ohtani reportedly has not spoken to the media since early August, even after successful the American League MVP award. He’s a megatalent who seemingly has little interest in serving to to advertise curiosity within the recreation. What a misplaced alternative for MLB.
3. Christopher Morel is usually a invaluable asset in 2024.
Whether it’s with the Cubs is the important thing query.
“Positional versatility creates a good floor‚” Counsell mentioned when discussing Morel’s lack of a place, “so when things inevitably happen to your team during a season, you’re choosing from better options than just one option.”
Morel hit 11 dwelling runs in a month at Triple-A Iowa final season and 26 with the Cubs. At 24, he nonetheless can get higher, and the ability clearly is there. Can the Cubs hold him and not using a actual place, or would they be higher off buying and selling one among their most electrical gamers?
Counsell appeared like he hoped to discover a place for Morel, who performed 61 video games because the designated hitter in 2023.
“Yeah, Mookie Betts was a versatile piece for a pretty good team,” Counsell mentioned of the Dodgers star transferring between proper discipline, second base and shortstop. “I think (Morel) has kind of forced his way into lineups … and that’s a really good thing. The positional part, we’re going to have to figure that out.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com