Cup of Coffee: December 12, 2024

Good morning! And welcome to Free Thursday!

Yesterday was the last day of the Winter Meetings so expect the news to slow down considerably between now and the end of the year. But you know me: I'm always posting. And hey, there was some decently-sized news yesterday, so let's get to it!

The Daily Briefing

The Red Sox acquire Garrett Crochet from the White Sox

Sox win the trade!

Sorry, but I'm a bit miffed none of you included "Sox win!" in your favorite Cup of Coffee bits so I felt the need to double down on it. Not that it's a great bit as much as it's an old one, but I've always been fond of it.

Anyway, the deal involves Boston getting lefty Garrett Crochet and Chicago getting prospects Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and Wikelman Gonzalez.

Crochet, 25, is coming off a season in which he was converted from relief work to the rotation and became a standout starter. Crochet posted 3.58 ERA (115 ERA+) in 32 starts. That ERA was a bit misleading because he had a crap defense behind him which, because official scorers seem not to give out errors anymore, gave him a bunch of earned runs that he really didn't deserve. His 209 strikeouts against 33 walks in 146 innings, his excellent swing-and-miss rates, and his fastball, which averaged 97 m.p.h. provide a much better look at the kind of starter the Red Sox are getting. The only question is his durability given that he only pitched 12.2 innings in 2023 and missed the entire 2022 season.

Crochet is under team control for two more years. He'll get a big raise in arbitration this year and, barring disaster, another one before the 2026 season, but the Red Sox are still getting an ace for bargain prices. He will provide a big boost for Boston as it tries to get back into the playoff hunt in 2025.

Three of the four players heading back to Chicago are generally agreed to be among Boston's top-10 prospects:

• Teel, a 22 year old catcher, split last season between Double- and Triple-A, hitting .288/.386/.433 with 13 home runs. He bats lefty, works counts, strikes out a bit too much but has doubles power. He profiles as a starting big league catcher and, given that he's heading to the worst team in living memory, he'll likely get a chance to start pretty dang soon.
• Montgomery, a 21 year old right fielder, was Boston's first-round pick in 2024 out of Texas A&M. Because of an injury near the end of the college season he has yet to make his pro debut. Still, he's a switch hitter who is considered to be a strong offensive and defensive right fielder with a big arm. He'll likely be put on the express track in the minors unless and until he hits any setbacks.
• Meidroth, a 23 year old infielder, was a fourth rounder in 2022 out of college who has two minor league seasons under his belt. Last year he was at Triple-A all season and hit .293/.437/.401 with seven home runs and 13 steals. That on-base percentage tells his tale. Meidroth has great plate patience and doesn't strike out much. While the power is not really there for the corner infield positions, he can handle second, short, and third. He profiles as a super-ute on a good team but, again, the state of the White Sox is such that he could very well see everyday action, somewhere, in 2025.
• Gonzalez, 22, made 24 appearances – 19 of them starts – in Double-A last year, posting a 4.73 ERA. He has a few above-average pitches but he walks everyone. A project to be sure, but one with upside potential.

All in all, that's a good haul for Chicago. None of these guys seem like future MVP candidates, but they're all potential regulars, three of them relatively soon. Given just how little MLB talent the Sox had on their actual MLB roster last year, that's no small thing. Chicago is too far away from contention to play the "next good White Sox team" card, but these four could certainly be part of the "next moderately respectable White Sox team."

Tom Hamilton wins the Ford Frick Award

The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting. Yesterday was that annual presentation and the award went to longtime Cleveland Guardians radio voice, Tom Hamilton.

Hamilton, 70, has been calling Cleveland games since 1990. He is a seven-time winner of the Ohio Sportscaster of the Year Award and is the only broadcaster in franchise history to call three different Cleveland World Series teams (1995, 1997, 2016).

Congratulations Tom Hamilton.

The Rule 5 Draft went down

I remember my first Rule 5 draft. It was 2009 in Indianapolis at the first Winter Meetings I covered. When it was time for the draft to go down late that Wednesday morning I dutifully went to the big ballroom where it was being held, notepad and laptop in hand, ready to act like a real reporter covering a major event.

Then I sat in there while a bunch of names were read in quick succession. There were no front office people set up at battle stations with phones and crap. There was no stage. There was no pomp or circumstance to any of it. I've had substitute teachers take roll with more ceremony and flair than what went down in that ballroom, my friends. Everyone filed out faster than they filed in. Whole deal took like 18 minutes, and that may be generous.

So forgive me for simply pasting a list of the Rule 5 selections that was posted over at MLB Trade Rumors. I know it may come off as lazy but know that the previous two paragraphs of introduction made this newsletter item more interesting than anything which actually happens at the real Rule 5 draft.  

1. White Sox: RHP Shane Smith (Brewers)
2. Rockies: pass
3. Marlins: C Liam Hicks (Tigers)
4. Angels: LHP Garrett McDaniels (Dodgers)
5. Athletics: RHP Noah Murdock (Royals)
6. Nationals: RHP Evan Reifert (Rays)
7. Blue Jays: RHP Angel Bastardo (Red Sox)
8. Pirates: pass
9. Reds: 2B Cooper Bowman (Athletics)
10. Rangers: pass
11. Giants: pass
12. Rays: LHP Nate Lavender (Mets)
13. Red Sox: pass
14. Twins: RHP Eiberson Castellano (Phillies)
15. Cardinals: pass
16. Cubs: 3B Gage Workman (Tigers)
17. Mariners: pass
18. Royals: pass
19. Tigers: pass
20. Astros: pass
21. Mets: pass
22. D-backs: pass
23. Atlanta: RHP Anderson Pilar (Marlins)
24. Orioles: pass
25. Guardians: pass
26. Padres: RHP Juan Nunez (Orioles)
27. Brewers: LHP Connor Thomas (Cardinals)
28. Yankees: pass
29. Phillies: RHP Mike Vasil (Mets); Phillies later traded Vasil to Rays for cash considerations, per announcements from both clubs.
30. Dodgers: pass

In the second round all but one club passed, with Atlanta taking shortstop Christian Cairo from the Guardians. And that was that.

You know the deal here: the selecting team has to keep the selected player on their 26-man roster all year or else the team from which he was selected gets him back. The exception: the player can go on the big league injured list and remain. Which is why Rule 5 dudes who don't perform always seem to get oblique injuries, "general soreness" and "fatigue" that takes a long time to get better. Damndest thing, really. Maybe someday someone will figure out that that's all about.

In all seriousness, though: if you want the lowdown on the Rule 5 players selected, your best bet it to go check out Baseball America. They do a great job with this stuff while I just make dumb jokes to deflect from the fact that I don't have the bandwidth to cover the minor leagues.

Other Stuff

My elected officials at work

From Ohio:

An Ohio lawmaker wants to make it a felony to plant a flag in the center of Ohio Stadium. The move comes after a fight broke out between Ohio State and Michigan players after the Wolverines tried to plant a flag on OSU's field after defeating the Buckeyes 13-10 on Nov. 30. The Big Ten fined Ohio State and Michigan $100,000 apiece for each team's role in the fight.

State Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Twp., introduced the O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act Tuesday. He could not be reached for comment.

Observations:

1. Such a law is obviously stupid but it's also obviously unconstitutional. The fact that Rep. Williams teaches Constitutional Law for a living makes it even dumber;
2. Constitutionality aside, Williams is is one of the worst, most dishonest, and frankly disturbing Republicans in a body full of bad, dishonest, disturbing Republicans. He's a remarkable piece of shit who, among many other shitty things he has done, has a history of making rape jokes, which he has stood by years after the fact;
3. He's also just a bad politician. He represents one of the most gerrymandered districts in a state full of gerrymandered districts yet he still just barely eked out a win last month and needed a massive infusion of Koch Foundation money to do it. They messed up his ads in a pretty hilarious way, too;
4. Finally, it makes no political sense in Williams' district specifically because he represents an area right on the Michigan-Ohio state line west of Toledo and it's a fact that that part of the state contains more Michigan fans than Ohio State fan. So, on the local merits, this is actually bad politics for him. I suspect he's doing this, however, because he wants some statewide/national headlines in order to elevate his profile for when he tries to run for a bigger job. Which is what all of these guys are doing constantly due to Ohio stupidly adopting term limits 30 years ago.

Other than that, yeah, good job, dude.

Great Moments in the Modern Dystopia

Harper Collins CEO Brian Murray spoke to Publishers Weekly about the future of his company and the publishing industry in general. This stuck out:

The fast-evolving AI sector could deliver new types of formats for books, Murray said, adding that HC is experimenting with a number of potential products. One idea is a “talking book,” where a book sits atop a large language model, allowing readers to converse with an AI facsimile of its author . . . All the various AI products are “kind of interesting, but I don’t know how you market, price, or sell them,” he said, adding that he can’t predict when these products “may move the needle on our overall economics.”

Maybe you can't figure out how to market, price, or sell AI publishing products like your conversing AI facsimile author because there is absolutely no one asking for such things and when there is no demand for anything pricing and marketing is, indeed, a problem.

And hell, even if developing and selling such a product became viable, imagine how that would work with authors like James Ellroy or someone difficult like that. Any profits you make on the "talking book" would be eaten up by settlements of assault, slander, and intentional infliction of emotional distress lawsuits.

Wisconsin man lacks follow-through

A few months ago a Wisconsin man named Ryan Borgwardt was presumed dead when his kayak was found overturned on Green Lake. His car was still in the lot back at the boat launch. His phone was at the bottom of the lake. A monthlong search was mounted for him or, really, his body, but the search came up empty.

The reason he was not found: he wasn't dead. He had faked the whole thing. He brought an inflatable raft out with him on the lake, took it back to shore after dumping his kayak and phone, then rode an e-bike he had brought with him through the night to Madison where he hopped a bus to Detroit, crossed into Canada, and then hopped a flight to Eastern Europe. Authorities figured that out when they got a hold of his laptop back at his house and found out that he had moved money into a foreign bank account and had been communicating with a woman in Uzbekistan.

Last month investigators found where he was and began talking to him, trying to convince him to come back to the United States. Yesterday it was reported that he finally did. He's now in custody in Wisconsin facing charges arising out of his causing an unnecessary and expensive manhunt. He said he came back because he wanted to see his family. I question if they actually want to see him but I suppose that's none of my business.

Mostly though I'm just disappointed. I've long been fascinated with cases in which people fake their own deaths and try to disappear. So damn many of them do a totally crappy job of the actual disappearing part. It sounds like Borgwardt had that all locked down, though! The whole raft/bike/bus/Canada thing all seemed pretty slick. But how on Earth did he think the whole money/laptop thing wasn't gonna be figured out?! And why did he go through all that trouble only to come back? I assume it's because the Uzbek woman was either a fraudster or didn't much care for our hero here when he got there, but dude, if you're gonna commit to a plan you gotta frickin' commit.

No one follows through with anything anymore. We're just a country full of quitters, man.

Ok, Moz

A new Morrissey interview dropped yesterday and he said some decidedly Morrissey things. Such as his whining about Johnny Marr not wanting to do a Smiths reunion with him, which led to this:

[Marr] seems to me to be just as insecure and fearful as he was during the 1980s. But he gains more press adoration by pretending to be the Smiths gatekeeper and custodian in isolation, and as long as he is sitting in a corner complaining about me he has a pedestal which would disappear in the event of a reunion. He claims to find me completely indigestible, but whenever he walks onto a stage he sings my lyrics, my vocal melodies and my song titles. Is this hypocrisy or self-deception? He has forced people to choose between Morrissey and Marr, and I’ve had just about enough of his bitchslap comments. I’ve quietly put up with them for over 30 years.

First: there is no conflict between Marr singing Morrissey-written Smiths lyrics in concert and finding Morrissey to be insufferable now. Back in 1985 or whatever Morrissey wasn't loudly supporting fascist/nativist leaders and causes and now he is. I hope that helps, buddy!

Second: no one would ever, ever accuse you, Moz, of "quietly putting up" with anything. The absolute last thing you have been, you drama queen, is "quiet." Indeed, you haven't shut up for like 35 years.

The world in general had already progressed beyond the need for Morrissey some time ago, but after seeing Johnny Marr live three times this past fall I can say that also applies to Morrissey performing Smiths songs specifically. I've now both of those guys perform those songs live and, frankly, Marr does 'em way, way better. Probably because, however great and fun some of Morrissey's Smiths lyrics are, and despite his obvious gift for theatricality, those songs die on arrival if they aren't supported by Marr's music. Like, "How Soon is Now" would still be a banger with different lyrics but no words Morrissey wrote with the Smiths would be remembered if they were not married to Marr's guitar.

The law firm alumni club

A thing I get in my inbox a few times a year:

That was the law firm I worked for before they fired me in late 2008 (for those who care, the long story of my dumb legal career is here). I am not sure how many of the rest of you have been placed in an "alumni club" for a job you left involuntarily, but I'm in one! And it's sorta weird!

To be clear here, this alumni club was actually set up and is run by the firm. It is not an informal club run by those of us who are no longer there. They reached out to us, not the other way around, and it's an official part of the law firm's business now. Presumably as a means of networking on the theory that people who have left may be in the position to send business back to the old firm, but that obviously doesn't apply to socially, commercially, and legally isolated knuckleheads like me. And, honestly, given my history there and the fact that there are still a couple of people there I don't much care for, I'm not sure I'd do it anyway. It's sorta like how people who worked in a kitchen might be loathe to eat at the restaurant after they've moved on. They know how much of a mess the walk-in is and they know who doesn't wash their hands and don't wanna chance it.

Yet the alumni club persists, and the people who run it – none of whom are in the "Craig doesn't care for them club" I should note – seem to do a good job with it. In addition to the newsletters which share the latest goings on of the firm in a p.r.-friendly as opposed to a dish-the-dirt sort of way, they organize alumni club outings. Fun recreational events or happy hours or whatever, not unlike the summer law clerk outings I used to organize back when I was on the hiring committee. I've only been to one of these outings. It was an evening at a Top Golf last year, with the firm picking up the tab for the driving range, the food, and the drinks. I don't golf but I hit some balls anyway and enjoyed seeing some of the people I used to work with, some of whom were fired like me, some of whom got fed up and quit, and a few of whom took in-house positions or ratcheted back legal career ambitions for whatever reason.

But I'm not gonna lie, it became kinda uncomfortable when my old running buddies and I began telling stories about the bad old days.

These are stories which, because of the sort of place that firm was 20 years ago, are all basically "remember that horribly inappropriate thing that happened!" or "remember how badly we screwed that case up!" Networking motivations notwithstanding, I genuinely believe that the alumni club organizers' hearts are in the right place in bringing us all together, but the firm's current lawyers and staff strike me as way better and more upstanding people than we ever were so it created some awkward vibes! The closest analog to how that evening went was the "30 Rock" B-plot in which Tim Conway played the Golden Age of Television star who came back to visit and totally scandalized Kenneth.

Not to be too dramatic about it, but in a lot of ways I think of my legal career as 11 years worth of low-level trauma infliction. At the time it really messed with me mentally and, in the first several years after I left it behind, I could not think about it all that objectively. Eventually I just stopped thinking about it all, really. What I never really did was try to separate the bad memories from the good ones. But when these emails started about two years ago they caused me to do so, at least a little bit, so I'm glad I get 'em once a quarter.

Have a great day everyone.