By waiting until April 17 to promote third baseman Bryant and April 21 to call up second baseman Russell, the Cubs will have them through the 2021 season instead of the 2020 season before they can become free agents.
All right, we know that. We have known that since Bryant’s status became a major issue in spring training. Russell sort of slid in quietly behind Bryant because he didn’t have the splashy spring Bryant had. But there are two things we don’t know:
I know, I know. This is probably not a good time to be making such a brash declaration, considering that each team just swept a three-game series, the Yankees from Kansas City, which began the series with the best record in the American League, the Mets from Philadelphia, maybe the National League’s weakest team.
Both teams look like they are in position to play in October beyond the last few days of the regular season, but looks can be deceiving. Four months remain in the season, giving them plenty of time to …
But the Indians haven’t had a winning record since April 9 and, despite a current five-game winning streak—their first time all year winning more than two games in a row—sit in last place in the division, where they have been mired for all but one day for the past month.
To answer the SI cover: why not Cleveland? Because the Tribe can’t catch the ball.
That answer is probably obvious for fans who have been watching the Indians daily, but for the rest of us, a statistical analysis makes clear that …
