This Week in Baseball: 01-28-2019

Ivy Envy – Teagan: The Chicago Cubs need Kris Bryant to be, well, Kris Bryant in 2019. There’s no denying that 2018 was a down year for the former National League Most Valuable Player. However, before his shoulder became an issue, Bryant was on pace to have his best year yet. Now that his injured shoulder is healed, Bryant should be gearing up for a monster year and helping the Cubs make a run at another NL Central crown.

The Japan Times – Jason Coskrey: Most Major League Baseball fans associate the name Tuffy Rhodes with his 1994 opening day trio of home runs off of Doc Gooden. Global baseball fans hear Rhodes’ name mentioned and think of the guy who dominated Nippon Professional Baseball for thirteen years. Yet, thus far Rhodes has failed in his attempts to garner entry into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. There are a number of reasons why that may be the case, even if they don’t make sense and are denying Rhodes of his rightful place among other legends of Japanese baseball.

Arizona Capital Times – Ben Giles: Major League Baseball is, frankly, a terrible organization. At every turn, they are exploiting the players who make up Minor League Baseball rosters. In yet another twist of the dagger into the collective backs of the games youngest players, MLB is trying to find a new way to exploit them. In Arizona, where teams annually take part in Spring Training, MLB is using a state representative to push forward a bill that would exempt MiLB players from Arizona minimum wage laws. MiLB players already participate in Spring Training without pay, and the new bill seeks to ensure that remains the case and to undercut any attempts at legal action against the league to actually pay the players.

Lead photo courtesy of Minda Haas Kuhlmann – flickr

Liked it? Take a second to support Words Above Replacement on Patreon!