TORONTO – Ian Happ, the Cubs’ MLB Players Association representative, sees the slashing of minor-league teams and draft rounds in recent years as part of the impetus for the push to unionize minor-leaguers.

“That’s when you kind of say, ‘Okay, if some of these changes are going to be made unilaterally, and without any control, and no oversight, something has to be done to make sure that it isn’t a continuation in very quick order,'” he said. “And that was probably, from a player standpoint, at least from mine, probably one of the most important things.”

The MLBPA announced it had launched a campaign to unionize minor-league players after receiving “overwhelming support” from its executive board Sunday.

It will be a long process, and the push is in its early stages, starting with a card sent out to minor-leaguers to vote on designating the MLBPA as their collective bargaining representative.

If at least 30 percent of players sign the authorization cards, the National Labor Relations Board will conduct an election. Then, with a majority “yes” vote, the NLRB would require MLB to recognize the union. Alternatively, the MLBPA could seek voluntary recognition.

“It’s such a complicated topic,” Happ said. “Because for these guys in the minor leagues, you want them to have better compensation, better work environments. And the biggest part is just having them be able to have a voice, and what that looks like, and the construction of that.”

Happ said the hope is for the major-league and minor-league union groups to function as unique entities, with separate collective bargaining agreements. And the big-leaguers will lend support.

Of course, many of the issues that affect one group will also affect the other. Like Happ siad, it’s complicated.

“The group is together as we’ve ever been,” Happ said of the players. “I think we understand, as the game has trended for the last six years, that there’s more power in looking out for the guys that have less of a voice. And there’s more power in getting guys paid younger and being a little bit selfless on the back end, and what that means for future generations.”

That was clear in the last round of collective bargaining between MLB and the players union.

“There’s just a lot of consideration right now, as the game is changing so rapidly, as club behaviors change so rapidly, to really care about the future of the game and the next generation of player,” Happ said. “And that’s been a huge focus.”

Injury update

The Cubs hope to send veteran lefty Wade Miley (left shoulder strain) to Single-A South Bend later this week on a rehab assignment. It’s been two weeks since Miley’s last rehab start. The Cubs paused his progression due to a slow recovery from his 75-pitch outing in Triple-A Iowa.

Right-hander Keegan Thompson (tight lower back)is continuing with his bullpen regimen. If all goes to plan, he’ll start throwing live batting practice in a week to 10 days.

“He’s been feeling great,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. “Coming off the last bullpen [Saturday], and the catch play he’s had, the workouts that he needs to do, I think he’s progressing the right way.”

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When Albert Pujols and the Cardinals visited Wrigley Field last week, Cubs pitcher Drew Smyly was among those who paid tribute.

The Sun-Times’ Maddie Lee quoted Smyly as saying, “He’s the GOAT. He’s one of the greatest of all time.”

After homering Monday, Pujols is six home runs shy of joining Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth in the 700-homer club.

No doubt, Pujols is an elite player, destined to be an inner-circle Hall of Famer. But how would you go about measuring GOATs — while excluding any bygone Wrigley jinxes?

Conditions change so dramatically over time that no one pretends you could just pluck Babe Ruth out of the 1920s and have him dominate the 2020s. Likewise, if you took a modern player as a child and raised him without access to modern diets, sports medicine, training methods and equipment, he’d emerge a different player.

Using metrics such as the Fangraphs or Baseball-Reference version of WAR, Baseball Prospectus’ WARP or Bill James’ Win Shares frames the question as “How high did a player rise above the competition of his own time?”

By Fangraphs’ WAR, the all-time leader remains Ruth, whose 180.8 breaks down to 168.4 as a position player and 12.4 in his early years as a pitcher. Using replacement-level players would be expected to yield about 180 fewer victories than Ruth’s teams had.

Bonds is close to the position player portion at 164.4, with Willie Mays next at 149.9.

Among position players, Pujols is 28th at 88. That’s nothing to sneeze at, even if it doesn’t reach GOAT territory. The highest fWAR among players with lengthy Chicago tenures belongs to second baseman Eddie Collins, whose 120.5 fWAR includes 64.6 with the White Sox from 1915 to ’26. Only three other Chicagoans surpass 70, led by Cap Anson (92.1, with 81.8 as a Cub), Luke Appling (72.6, all with the Sox) and Ron Santo (70.9, with 71.9 as a Cub).

What if we ignored defense and weighed just the best hitters of all time by using weighted runs created plus?

Ruth leads there, too, at 197, followed by Ted Williams (188), with Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby and Bonds at 172. Pujols is at 141.

Pujols’ career was front-loaded. In his first term with the Cardinals from 2001 to ’11, he led baseball with 81.3 fWAR at 167 wRC+, then dropped dramatically after moving to the Angels.

How did others fare in their first 11 years? From 1914 to ’24, Ruth managed 79.4 as a hitter/position player despite not becoming a full-time outfielder till 1920. He added 12.3 as a pitcher in that time for a 91.7 total. In Ruth’s first 11 years as a full-time position player, his fWAR was 118.5, basically lapping the competition.

Bonds’ 81.8 from 1986 to ’96 was in the same ballpark as Pujols. Mays was at 73.4 for 1951-61, but he missed most of 1952 and all of ’53 while serving in the military.

In his first Cardinal term, Pujols put up numbers near the GOAT leaders. For a full career, “one of the greatest” is apt.

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The Chris Sale trade 5 years later and how the White Sox won the trade

Over five years ago the White-sox shook the MLB to it’s core with an absolute blockbuster of a trade. The trade included at the time then perennial Cy-young candidate Chris Sale and top 50 prospects Yoan Moncada and Michael kopech. Moncada was the real gem of this trade for the White sox. Moncada was given a 70 grade by scouts overall which is mostly unheard of and was a consensus top 3 prospect in all of baseball. Kopech was very highly touted as well. With an 80 grade fastball and potential through the roof, how could White sox fans not be excited. Of course to acquire this much talent the Sox had to send Chris Sale shipping up to Boston.

Over four years later let’s see who really won this trade. Did the Red sox hurt themselves in the long run by pulling the trigger on this trade? Red sox fans may argue no due to the fact that they won it all in 2018. However, four seasons later, Red sox fans may find there’s a sour taste in their mouth when talking about this trade. Especially with the recent news of Chris sale being shutdown for the rest of the season again after falling off of his bike as the team fights for a wild-card berth. Sale is coming fresh off Tommy john surgery and the Red sox are on the hook for $25 million only to have Sale watch from the dugout.

Did the White sox get the last laugh?

The Chicago White Sox got quite the haul for Sale. Not only did they acquire aforementioned Moncada and Kopech. They also got two more prospects by the name of Luis Basabe and Victor Diaz. Basabe was later traded to the Giants for cash considerations in 2020. As for Diaz, Diaz has not played professional baseball since 2017. However when he last played he was pitching for the Red Sox low A affiliate and put up solid numbers.

Over 37 games Diaz put up a 3.88 ERA and even notched a reliever of the month award under his belt. Hopefully when he gets his health back on track we can see what he can do in a similar situation for Kannaopolis. The White sox currently have Moncada and Kopech under team control all the way up to 2026 for way less than what Chris sale is getting to sit on the sidelines. Yes Kopech and Moncada are also both coming off their own respective injuries.

However, Kopech has bounced back relatively nicely from TJ, to the tune of a 3.58 ERA. 98 strikeout’s in just about 111 innings pitched. Though I am sure the Sox would like to see the walks come down a bit.

Yoan Moncada has all the potential in the world when he’s right. I believe based off his previous full seasons Moncada can be a 30 HR 80+ RBI kind of guy who hits anywhere between .250-.270 maybe even higher. A guy who can even sipe 10-15 bags a year. When Moncada was first coming up through the ranks, he was being compared to MLB legend Gary Sheffield. 

Moncada just needs to stay healthy and if he does he can be the face of a franchise with an already bright future. White Sox fans, be patient with Moncada. Though he has gotten off to a slow start this year (and was just recently placed on the IL with a hamstring strain) and has been mostly disappointing, he is the real deal and the fact that he is under team control until 2026 is just another reason to trust the process and trust in the fact that the Chicago White Sox won this blockbuster.

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After rookie left tackle Braxton Jones responded to the challenge of facing Robert Quinn in practice, the fifth-round pick from Southern Utah is in line for a similar challenge against 49ers Pro Bowl defensive end Nick Bosa.

Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy would not commit to a starting offensive line with the opener against the 49ers still 13 days away. But Jones figures to be the starter after a strong preseason that confirmed an impressive introduction in the offseason program.

Jones would be the first rookie to start in Week 1 at left tackle since second-round pick Troy Auzenne in 1992.

“Braxton’s done a nice job,” Getsy said. “For a young guy, he came in kind of hot — we were really excited about what he was showing. Then we put pads and it shocked him a little bit … obviously having Robert to go against every day didn’t help.

“But he did a great job of digging his feet in the ground and getting right back at it. These last two or three weeks, he’s done a nice job of getting better every day. I’m excited to see what he can do. He’s got a bunch of confidence in himself. And he’s got an opportunity to show what he’s got.”

After mixing and matching the offensive line early in training camp, the Bears settled on a starting five of Jones, left guard Cody Whitehair, center Sam Mustipher (starting for injured center Lucas Patrick), right guard Teven Jenkins and right tackle Larry Borom.

Patrick, who has been out since breaking his right thumb in the second practice July 28, is expected to return in time to start against the 49ers on Sept. 11.

“I love their style of play,” Getsy said. “When our guys are getting tackled, they’re being picked up by those five guys every single time. They’re running to the ball. They’re finishing and we want to play that kind of ball. We want to play nasty. We want to be more physical than everybody else. Those guys have bought into that.”

Jenkins a keeper?

Jenkins, the Bears’ 2021 second-round pick (39th overall), also appears to have won a job — two weeks after being moved to right guard. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport is still reporting that Jenkins could be traded.

The Bears have some options — Mustipher opened camp at right guard and could return there when Patrick returns. Veteran Michael Schofield also is an option. But trading Jenkins would be a surprise after Jenkins seemed to establish himself as a viable, maybe even long-term, option the past two weeks.

“Teven’s done a great job of accepting the challenge of right guard,” Getsy said. “We threw him in there [on Aug. 15] and [three] days later he’s playing in a game in Seattle. I thought that showed one, his athleticism and two, his mental capacity. For him to go in and execute at a high level was really good.”

Early cuts

The Bears got a head start on cutting the roster to 53 by waiving wide receiver Kevin Shaa, center Corey Dublin and cornerback Jon Alexander.

The Bears still have to cut 23 players Tuesday to get down to 53, but can establish a 16-player practice squad Wednesday.

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Is a Shohei Ohtani trade a possibility for the Chicago Cubs this offseason?

Shohei Ohtani trade rumors are swirling again, this time their blowing straight in the direction of Chicago’s North Side. Jon Morosi of the MLB Network dropped a bomb on Chicago sports radio last week. Appearing on Parsons & Spiegel on Friday, Morosi predicted that the Cubs could be the ideal landing spot for Shohei Ohtani in a trade with the Anaheim Angels.

“If I’m a Cubs fan,” Morosi said, “I would allow myself to be a bit more excited about the Ohtani trade possibility than the deGrom free agent possibility.”

The prospect of a legit Shohei Ohtani trade seems as much of a pipedream as it is a no-brainer (if it were possible), but Morosi has some good points suggesting:

The Angels are looking to sell and may not be willing to keep two $400 million contracts on the books when searching for potential suitors for the franchise.The Cubs were said to have made a good impression on the Ohtani camp when he initially interviewed MLB teams interested in signing him.The Cubs are trending upwards with loads of good prospects and cap room heading into the 2023 season and beyond.

So, let’s just say it’s a possibility, for the sake of argument and pure dreaming potential. The Cubs have the opportunity to trade for Ohtani, the best two-way player since George Herman Ruth?

Should the Cubs do it?

So, the phone rings. If you’re Jed Hoyer, you obviously answer the call from the Angels, but how far are you willing to go to get Ohtani? Are you willing to give up Nico Hoerner AND Justin Steele AND Pete Crow-Armstrong AND (we could do this all day . . . but if you were Jed, would you?)

Some things to consider: Ohtani is 28 with just one season left on his contract. This is not the same situation that led to the Juan Soto deal. Soto is 4 and a half years younger than Ohtani and isn’t slated to reach free agency until after the 2024 season. So, even with the prospect of signing Ohtani to a long-term deal, the Angels are not giving up nearly as much potential generational-talent baseball as the Nationals did. The return for Ohtani should be considerably less than the Soto haul from the Padres.

Hoerner, Steele, PCA, and more? Expect it to take lesser, or at-least less certain, prospects (or more expensive baggage, like Anthony Rendon’s remaining 4 years at third base) to make this deal happen.

Obviously, Cubs fans want the front office to give up as little as necessary to get Ohtani, but even if they overspend a little bit, Ohtani is a player you have to acquire if given the shot. He is irreplaceable. It would take 2-3 free-agent signings to garner the same value they would get in Ohtani. But more importantly, trading for the most exciting player in baseball would be a huge sign the Cubs were looking to compete not just in the NL Central in 2023, but for a shot at a repeat of World Series glory.

And if they trade for Ohtani AND sign him to an extension? That Cubs dynasty we thought we were getting five years ago might just be a reality this time around.

Now, I have no idea about the could part of this scenario. In my experience, owners looking to sell their teams generally hold on to as many assets as possible to make their franchises look sparkly, shiny, and wonderful. But it’s hard to argue with the fact that the Angels spending upward of $100 million on just three players alone would be a tough sell. And Ohtani doesn’t have a no-trade clause, so he could be going anywhere. There’s a chance, but not a great one.

But if the Cubs have a shot at pulling off a Shohei Ohtani trade? They absolutely have to take it.

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The Bears’ starters scored three touchdowns in five drives Saturday.

It won’t be that easy — or that basic — when they start the season Sept. 11.

“It gets a little bit deeper now,” offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said Monday. “And then how much you’re willing to do against, and show, now.

“The gloves are off now.”

Getsy needs to throw enough right hooks to give a Bears offense, which profiles as one of the worst in the NFL, a puncher’s chance. Saturday’s performance reflected as well on the Bears’ first-time play-caller as anyone on the field. Whether Getsy can do it in the opener against a championship-contending 49ers team is another question altogether.

The Bears’ preseason scheme, like everyone else’s, was intentionally vanilla.

“I know our playbook, so I know what we have in there – a lot of nice and crazy plays,” receiver Darnell Mooney said. “But during the [preseason] game, I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’re not even running anything really. Really. just rolling.’

“But, yeah, it’s gonna get dangerous for sure.”

The Bears need to be competent first. Saturday, for the first time, Getsy’s offense looked to be one coherent piece.

Take Cole Kmet’s 24-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.

“We ran that play earlier,” Kmet said.

On the second play of the Bears’ first scoring drive, quarterback Justin Fields was under center with running back David Montgomery behind him. Kmet went in motion and settled in as a wingback to the right — offset a step back of the line of scrimmage. Fullback Khari Blasingame was in that position on the left side of the line.

The Bears ran play-action left, with Blasingame sprinting across parallel to the line and into the right flat. Sione Takitaki plastered himself onto Kmet as he ran a wheel route up the right sideline. Fellow Browns linebacker Jacob Phillips turned his back to Fields to chase after tight end Ryan Griffin on an over route. Blasingame, open in the right flat, caught a pass for six yards and was tackled by cornerback Martin Emerson.

With three-and-a-half minutes left in the first half, the Bears ran the play again. Takitaki, recognizing it, peeled off Kmet to focus on Blasingame. Fields looked at Kmet, then moved his eyes toward Blasingame, setting the trap.

Takitaki was so convinced the ball was going to Blasingame that he tackled the fullback before Fields even lofted the 24-yard pass to Kmet, who was wide open in the end zone.

“We knew this time that maybe he might bite with Khari, knowing he got the ball last time,” said Kmet, who didn’t have a touchdown catch all last season. “The safety and the corner doubled our post and it came wide open.”

It wasn’t magic — just execution.

On the first play, Mooney, split right, ran a post route that Getsy said wasn’t angled enough vertically to draw a double team. On the second play, receiver Isaiah Coulter ran a post route that sucked both the safety and the cornerback into coverage.

“The safety felt the post going over top, so he panicked and ran with it as well,” Getsy said.

The resulting score looked as easy as anything Matt Nagy drew up in four years. Not that it counted for much.

Preseason play-calling is unique in that coaches try to simplify the approach for their players while doing limited scouting work. Time will tell whether that approach has prepared Getsy enough for his regular-season debut.

“Everything we do is pretty process-driven,” he said. “I just kinda use my feel and flow of the game, and then … I just lean on the process that we put together all week. I feel good with all that.”

So do his players.

“We’ve got a lot of things cooking,” Mooney said.”

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