The Rundown: Shaw To Patrol RF Frequently, Clark Resigns as MLBPA Head, Cubs Announce One-Word Slogan

Have you ever filled out a form online, only to be rebuffed when trying to submit it because one of the fields was incorrect? Maybe you just forgot to fill something out, but there are times when you may have transposed a digit or accidentally misspelled your name. The advent of autofill can make it even more frustrating, as you take for granted the accuracy of the information you’re inputting.

Ed. note: This next part has some anecdotal stuff that eventually ties back to baseball writ large, but just skip to the bold if you’d prefer to shorten your time here.

The same thing is true of self-editing, as confirmation bias causes you to overlook otherwise obvious mistakes because you know what you meant to write. I had an issue yesterday with a Jimmy John’s delivery order that I initially couldn’t get to go through due to a problem with the address. I eventually figured it out by using a different address and specifying the actual location in the notes.

That brings me to the point of this whole thing, which is that we sometimes need to broaden our perception to perspective in order to pick up the root of the problem. Getting a sandwich delivered for my son’s lunch in between sessions of a baseball prospect camp at Illinois Wesleyan University may not have triggered my “Aha!” moment this morning, but the two are related.

During the BP portion of the event, players got two rounds of six swings against a pitching machine. Many players struggled mightily to find their timing, an understandable issue given the situation. My son’s issues were magnified a bit by being a switch-hitter and having to recalibrate, but he was eventually able to tag a few. Overall, however, his results were a little disappointing and indicative of inconsistencies that have cropped up over the last few weeks.

Always more of an all-fields hitter, he began pulling the ball much more and would often get so far out front that he just produced dribblers. It looked as though he was getting started too late and then rushing the bat through the zone, but that was just what my eyes told me. Then I realized that there might be a more objective way to evaluate the results, so I turned to our Blast Motion data.

We’ve been using Blast for years, mainly sticking to bat speed, connection, and attack angle as benchmarks. I’ve noted other data points without much application, but that changed when it clicked that I’d notice his rotational acceleration increasing. Like a car going from 0-60, rotational acceleration is a measure (in Gs) of how fast the bat accelerates from the initial move into the swing plane. What I found was that my son’s rotational acceleration had increased by around 15% from December to January.

While that might not seem like much, consider that making a similar improvement to a 5-second car’s 0-60 time would see it reach the goal in 4.25 seconds. That is a massive jump, relatively speaking. If a hitter improves his efficiency by that same percentage, he’s creating more time to make a swing decision. But if that decision starts at the same time as it did just a few weeks ago, he’s going to end up being way out front.

My hope is that the fix comes from thinking middle or oppo and finding a happy medium, but we’ll just have to see how that plays out. And lest you think I’ve done all this just to talk about my kid, I think there are applications to both baseball and our own lives. Think about pitchers tipping pitches or hitters slumping. Many times, those are brought on by gradual creep that may not be recognizable in real-time unless we zoom out using data.

The eyes can tell us something is wrong, but finding something as granular as an extra hundredth of a second here or a few millimeters of tilt there takes more than human perception. And when you’re dealing with younger players, their bodies are changing so rapidly that the need to adapt their developmental stimuli is much greater. That can be true even in the professional ranks, particularly when dealing with prep and international players who may not yet have been exposed to advanced weight training.

We’ve come a very long way from Don Zimmer threatening to cut Rick Sutcliffe if he ever dared to do bicep curls again.

Shaw to See Time in Right

Matt Shaw was a Gold Glove finalist at third base, but Alex Bregman‘s arrival means the second-year man will only spend nominal time at the hot corner. Shaw will be moving around between multiple infield and outfield spots this season as a super-utility player, something we’ve seen from young Cubs like Javier Baez and Kris Bryant in the past. He may spend the most time in right, where he’s very clearly comfortable.

“Craig Counsell said that Shaw is definitely gonna be getting a lot of time in the outfield,” Bruce Levine told 104.3 The Score from Arizona. “When there’s a left-hander on the mound, you can probably bet that Matt Shaw’s in the outfield and that Suzuki is your DH. Obviously, Ballesteros is gonna be [the] left-handed DH and you’re gonna see Suzuki most of the time in right field.

“But when I pressed Counsell yesterday about at-bats — and for a young player like Shaw, are there enough at-bats to keep the progression of his player development — he said, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna have 10 guys that get enough at-bats.’ And I think that included Ballesteros and Shaw.”

Matt Shaw putting in work in the outfield! pic.twitter.com/7nghoewyMb

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 13, 2026

This makes sense, but it also begs the question of what the Cubs will do with Kevin Alcántara. Even if he makes the team as an extra outfielder, his playing time will be limited by Shaw’s usage. That’s mildly concerning, as it stunts both Alcántara’s development and his trade value. While being granted an extra option for him affords the Cubs some flexibility to stash him at Triple-A Iowa, that runway means nothing if he can’t take off.

A bird in the hand and all that, but this is something we’ve seen too many times before with promising prospects.

IFA Market Has Gone Insane

Even more infuriating than the Cubs possibly wasting another toolsy outfielder is the idea that MLB teams may be reaching pre-agreements with international prospects who would barely be in middle school here. Though I’m still holding out hope that this is an elaborate prank, I’ve seen multiple troubling reports from Wilber Sánchez shared without community notes or other pushback.

According to his latest note, the Phillies have “locked down” 11-year-old Venezuelan shortstop David Basabe with a deal to sign him for a $1.8 million bonus as part of the 2031 international free agency class. Pardon my French, but this is a fucking child. Sánchez had previously posted a video of 10-year-old Dominican Jean Díaz, whose hitting is “turning heads among scouts.”

The dude has multiple other reports about more appropriate IFA signings, and we’ve known for a long time now that teams reach agreements with youngsters well ahead of their official signings. Still, entering into deals like this with pre-pubescent children is about as gross as it gets and is rife with all manner of untoward behavior. I’d say the implementation of an international draft with stricter age guidelines would clean up some of this stuff, but the general seediness and outright corruption might be too far gone to rein in.

MLBPA Shakeup as Clark Resigns

When it comes to changes in the way Major League Baseball goes about its business, there’s going to be a big shakeup atop the union. With a collective bargaining agreement battle looming, Tony Clark is expected to resign as executive director of the MLB Players Association. Per Jeff Passan, this decision stems from the Eastern District of New York’s investigation into alleged financial improprieties at the union.

The union was supposed to have its first meeting with players today at Cleveland’s camp in Goodyear, but that summit was cancelled. It would have been much more fitting had they planned to hold the meeting at Royals and Rangers camp in Surprise. Either way, this move leaves the union looking for a new leader after more than a decade with Clark at the helm.

Rather than seek an external replacement, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports that the MLBPA already has a familiar name in line to take over. That only makes sense with the CBA chess match well underway. Clark has been through two of these battles before, so sticking with one of his lieutenants or someone with direct experience is probably in the players’ best interest.

“We’re going to have an interim [director] and keep everything as stable as we can this year,” said Brent Suter, a member of the union’s eight-player executive subcommittee.

More News and Notes

• Former Cubs great Mike Tauchman has agreed to a minor league deal with the Mets. Some had hoped the Palatine Pounder would find his way back to Wrigley, but it doesn’t look like that’s in the cards.
• Despite decreased production, questionable health, and entering the season at 34 years old, Mike Trout says he’d prefer to be the Angels’ everyday center fielder. Sure, and I’d prefer this site to be as lucrative as it once was. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was to have to sell back my helicopter after just 18 months?
• Twins righty Pablo López has been diagnosed with a UCL tear after experiencing elbow soreness during live BP on Monday.
• Walker Buehler has signed a minor league deal with the Padres, who just keep adding players in bunches.
• The WBC has revealed uniform combos for all 20 participating teams, each with home whites and dark away options. I have to say, these are a little plain for my liking.
• The Cubs have revealed their slogan for 2026, which is simply “THIS.” Okay, but what is it? This. What? THIS! Oh, that makes sense. I was going to dedicate a longer blurb to “THIS,” but I knew I’d just come across like an old man shaking his fist at a cloud.
• Adding this late because I forgot about it, but a significant contingent of the player population might feel better about things with Clark gone. Under his leadership, the disparity between the top and bottom of the pay scale grew rapidly while the league’s revenue growth was outpaced by other leagues. Baseball’s middle class has been pushed out as teams offset monster contracts with rookie deals. Most players never reach free agency for one reason or another, and up to two-thirds of the league’s players over the last few seasons have earned the minimum salary.

Trailer Time

We’ve visited this title previously, but a new trailer means we’re checking in once more on The Mandalorian and Grogu. Enjoy.