Yamamoto and the Yankees, Front Office, McCutchen Sticking, Best Pitches, and

On Dec 20, 2023

Holiday party day at the younger kiddos’ school, so that’ll make for a fun afternoon.

Another reason to root for the Yankees to land Yoshinobu Yamamoto – it sounds like the Dodgers, like the Mets, are reportedly not planning to otherwise target the top of the free agent pitching market if they miss out on Yamamoto. In other words, if the Yankees get Yamamoto, it *could* take three teams out of the top-end of the starting market in free agency (the Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers). That could, in theory, slightly elevate the Cubs’ chances of landing Shota Imanaga or Jordan Montgomery at a realistic price (I don’t see them going hard after Blake Snell, to whom they have not been attached in any rumors).

Much more here on the Cubs’ new VP of Baseball Operations, Meghan Jones, and the value an organization gets from thinking proactively about diversity:

Meghan Jones didn’t exactly have a plan when the Cubs hired her in 2016 as the executive assistant to Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.

A promotion last month made her the first female VP in baseball operations in franchise history.@M_Montemurro‘s story.https://t.co/0SMC9pSpDQ— Chicago Tribune Sports (@ChicagoSports) December 20, 2023

The Cubs still haven’t named/hired a new Director of Pitching, by the way, and I wonder if they’ll just handle the role internally across multiple members of the staff for a year and re-assess at the end of the season.

Speaking of hirings, more on the Cubs’ new bullpen coach and catching coach here at North Side Baseball. Both hires have a substantial background with Craig Counsell, and should fit with what the Cubs are trying to do at those spots.

Andrew McCutchen is sticking with the Pirates for another year:

Sources: Pirates bringing Andrew McCutchen back. One year, $5 million. Story to come.

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) December 19, 2023

And he is awesome:

@Pirates pic.twitter.com/uiFgXqsd90

— Andrew McCutchen (@TheCUTCH22) December 19, 2023

The now 37-year-old outfielder hit .256/.378/.397/115 wRC+ for the Pirates in 2023, his best in a few years. McCutchen’s career arc was an interesting one, with him having a monster peak in his mid-20s, and then falling hard – but not to some below-average guy, just kind of a solidly above-average, non-impact player for the next decade.

Eno Sarris with the gold, silver, and bronze best pitches of the year for each pitch type. No Cubs make an appearance. Had I to quickly pick some Cubs bests without looking at pitch data, they would be Justin Steele for the best fastball, Adbert Alzolay for the best slider, Luke Little for the best sweeper, Mark Leiter Jr. for the best changeup/splitter, and Drew Smyly for the best curveball.

This may not be my exact ballot, but (1) it is a very good ballot, and (2) Bobby Abreu deserves this vote:

As always, it’s…

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