The Rundown Lite: Jed Hoyer’s Neon Vacancy Sign, Players Think Highly of North Side, Wade Miley Again Named as Tyler Skaggs Drug Source
You ever have one of those weeks where you just can’t figure out what day it is? That’s me this week. My sense of time is all out of whack because the typical touchstones I rely upon have been moved around more than once over the past month. I suppose that’s fitting with The Life of Chuck getting a wide theatrical release this weekend. If you’re not familiar with the Stephen King novella that has been turned into a movie by genius director Mike Flanagan, do me a favor and check it out.
The thing about this gig, which I find kinda like baseball in a way, is that falling out of the groove for even a couple of days can put you in a spot where you’re playing catch-up for at least twice as long. I’ve seen kids who didn’t make their middle or high school teams bust their asses like never before during the spring, but they’re still behind in the summer due to the lack of game reps. Similarly, being on the road or otherwise occupied totally jacks up my writing cadence.
Things should get better at this point, what with my daughter all graduated from high school and my schedule normalizing a bit more. There’s still travel ball to contend with, however, and having full weekends isn’t entirely conducive to writing. Speaking of which, I should probably get to the topics at hand. Hope y’all don’t mind the personal digression too much, I figure that’s part of the charm that draws you to CI in the first place.
Everyone knows Cubs need rotation help
The needs have shifted a bit as the season has progressed, but it’s become clear to anyone who’s been paying attention that the Cubs will target starting pitching at the deadline. I had commented during a recent Rant podcast episode that their top three starters were not intimidating in the least when thinking about playoff baseball. Of course, we clipped that into a reel that has gotten lots of comments born of a lack of context.
Lots of folks want to tout the success of Matt Boyd and Colin Rea, while at least one said no one thought much of the Jake Arrieta/Jon Lester/Kyle Hendricks trifecta. While that latter take is some serious revisionist history, the first is viewing the rose-colored glasses as half full. Even getting Shōta Imanaga back leaves the Cubs woefully short of other serious contenders from a pitching perspective.
“We’re in the information-gathering stage,” Hoyer told media members on Wednesday. “Obviously, we’re checking in and monitoring everything.”
That’s why you see them listed first among teams in need of starters in The Athletic’s recent Urgency Index piece. Jim Bowden wrote in a separate article that the Cubs “are planning to be aggressive at the trade deadline, looking for a strong starting pitcher and bullpen help.” I’m not sure how highly they’ll prioritize relievers, as they should get Porter Hodge, Javier Assad, and Eli Morgan back before the All-Star Break.
Not to mention their bullpen leads MLB with 0.82 ERA since May 14. Even knowing how fickle bullpens can be, addressing that area of the roster shouldn’t take up nearly as much energy as finding a starter. The problem is that literally everyone knows how great their need is and how much pressure Jed Hoyer is under to secure at least an NL Central crown. Failing to bolster the rotation for a playoff run would be a huge misstep, but even obvious sellers aren’t going to give the Cubs a discount.
Cubs Look Good in Anonymous Player Poll
The Athletic conducted an anonymous poll of 100 players to find out more about what they think of opposing teams and managers, and the Cubs came out looking pretty good. Craig Counsell was fourth with nine votes for which managers players would most like to play for. Leading the way were Bruce Bochy (20), Terry Francona (17), and Stephen Vogt (15). Interestingly enough, Cardinals skipper Oli Marmol (5) and former Cardinals skipper Mike Shildt (4) were at the top of the list of managers respondents would not want to play for.
The Cubs came in fourth when asked which organizations (multiple votes allowed) had good reputations among players. It should come as no surprise that the Dodgers led the way with 82 votes, followed by the Yankees (40, with 3 negative responses as well), Braves (25), and Cubs (22). The A’s were last with zero positive and 39 negative responses, and the White Sox (31) finished just ahead of that.
No Cubs players appeared in the poll when it came to who MLB players love watching the most, though I suspect the results would be different had the poll taken place this month rather than in the spring. I’m speaking, of course, about Pete Crow-Armstrong capturing the attention of his peers on a broad scale. However, there could be a big name on one of the lists who could return to Chicago if things break the right way.
Chris Sale is having another phenomenal season and the Braves look like sellers as they sit well out of both the division and Wild Card races. He’s an incredible steal at just a prorated $19 million AAV, plus he’s got an $18 million club option for 2026 that would be a no-brainer as long as he’s healthy. The Braves aren’t going to accept anything short of a monster offer and the bidding will surely be frantic, but acquiring Sale would be a huge boost for the Cubs.
They’ve got plenty of prospect capital, much of which is at Triple-A Iowa, so they could appeal to a team like Atlanta that wants to retool rather than rebuild. You’re probably looking at one of Owen Caissie or Kevin Alcántara, one of Jaxon Wiggins or Brandon Birdsell, and one more from a group that could include Jonathon Long, James Triantos, and more. Given Sale’s impact and control, I’d be willing to take a big hit to the farm in order to get him back to Chicago.
Wade Miley Named in Civil Suit
Miley has always been known as a tremendous teammate, but there may be a darker side to that. He was recently named in a court filing as part of a wrongful death civil suit filed by the family of former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who died of an overdose in 2019. Eric Kay, the team’s former communications director, is currently serving a sentence of 22 years in prison for his role in the death, and he had named Miley as a drug source for Skaggs during criminal proceedings.
In a deposition as part of the Skaggs family’s $210 million suit, former agent Ryan Hammill claimed Skaggs told him Miley had supplied him with Percocet — an opioid that contains 5 mg of rapid-release oxycodone — when the two were teammates on the Diamondbacks in 2012-13. Miley is still in the league and pitching for the Reds again, but these latest revelations do not appear to put his career at risk.
As someone who was taking Percocet following ACL reconstruction back in 2001, I can understand how someone might fall under their spell. I’d take one of them and drink a Pepsi in an attempt to juice the drug’s onset with a little caffeine, then sit back and enjoy literally whatever was happening. I discovered that Pacific Blue was the greatest TV show ever made, and I distinctly remember telling my mom, “This is the best Christmas ever” while laid up on the couch with a machine bending my knee for me.
Thankfully, I never even finished my refill of them and ended up tossing a good portion rather than falling into recreational or addictive use. Not everyone is that lucky, though, and there’s a point at which that usage turns to other substances as appetite and tolerance increase. Though not at all baseball related, I’ve heard Eminem talk about taking dozens of Vicodin, Valium, and Ambien each day when his addiction was at its strongest.
That’s a real bummer of a wrap, but we’re already over 1300 words and I assume one or two of you have other things to accomplish today.
