Eloy Jimenez isn't alone, which is why squabbling over service time has reached a new volume this season. Toronto has the same situation with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., except Guerrero has been the one prospect consistently ranked higher than Jimenez. Peter Alonso isn't in the same category as either of the aforementioned prospects, but Mets fans have a pretty loud bullhorn.
Over at The Athletic, Jayson Stark asked agents and executives about potential solutions to the service time issue. None of them involved lottery balls like Patrick's did, and none of them are satisfactory to either side.
The one that probably comes closest in the NHL model -- everybody reaches free agency at 27 or 28, or seven accrued seasons -- but baseball has a varying range of starting ages that makes such a system difficult to implement. A top prospect can break in at 19 or 23, which is a big reason why service time has been the solution to date.
I still think the first attempt to answer it could involve hearings with a much faster turnaround, just to give teams the sense that egregious examples of service-time manipulations are noticed and can be punished. If both sides find the arbitration hearing process unpleasant and worth avoiding, there must be something good about it.
Spare Parts
Willowbrook native Rob Scahill beat Zack Burdi to the "Lifelong Sox fan pitching for Sox story." He also talked about an August full of doubleheaders and wearing it that inflated his ERA.
‘‘The worst week I’ve had as a baseball player,’’ he said. ‘‘I gave up 17 earned runs in three innings [with one walk and six strikeouts]. And it was all singles, too. It wasn’t like I was getting banged around the yard. Not a lot of hard contact.’’
James Fegan shines a light on the mutual respect between Daniel Palka and White Sox fans, specifically the ones sitting in Section 108.
Still, there’s something unique about the player who hears the voices of well-lubricated fans yelling at him from the outfield corner and finds his community. It’s enough to forge a connection with the White Sox fan base that goes beyond Palka’s status as a lefty power bat fighting for playing time, at least with a certain corner of it that is enjoying Palkamania.
“He’s the spirit animal of the 108,” said @chorizy. “We can’t speak for the M&M guy.”
Friend of the Podcast Dan Szymborski is going through all of the eliminated teams to assess where they stand after a season that was a losing one in terms of the standings. He draws sensible conclusions up and down -- the White Sox pretty much jogged in place this season -- and throws in a seven-year projection for Eloy Jimenez for good measure.
The Yankees and Dodgers were able to reset their luxury tax violation clocks, so that's one thing that could free up cash for free agent pursuits this season, even if the overall market remains against players 30 and older.
After dealing with back, neck and shoulder problems for the last five years and missing the entirety of the last two seasons, David Wright's first start of the season for the Mets on Sept. 29 will be the last of his career.
Joe Mauer probably has some baseball still left in his body as his contract with his hometown team comes to an end, but hitting .273/.344/.374 as a first baseman in 2018 forces him to decide how hard he wants to try to keep playing. He was born and raised in St. Paul and has played every single one of his games for the Twins organization, so it's a weightier decision than usual.
Mauer has 2,103 career hits, 1,803 of them against the White Sox.
Thursday marked Conan O'Brien's 25th anniversary as a late-night host, and so I spent a lot of Thursday watching old Conan clips that were shared, compiled and aggregated. It starts with his dalliance with vintage baseball.
