We will get to the news in a little bit…

Todd’s Affiliate To-Do-List for 2022

Every Tuesday or Wednesday this off-season, I’ve been putting out a series of articles that double as a prospect profile and a to-do-list for 2022. One of the things I wanted to do in the big scheme of things was to make a to-do list for each affiliate. However, there is not enough material to fill a post for each affiliate. Instead, I’m going to do one to-do-list for all four affiliates today.

Iowa Cubs 

Their to-do list is already done. A year ago, I wanted them to rebrand a little bit and they knocked it out of the park last month with their new bear logo hats. I will probably be ordering mine here in about another week so that I have it in time for Christmas.

Tennessee Smokies

By all accounts, the fan experience at Smokies Stadium is top-notch as is broadcaster Mick Gillispie and the uniforms. The one thing they need to improve began last year but we still need some more high definition cameras to enhance the MiLB.TV experience. We’re a little bit spoiled when we watch South Bend play in high definition, but the Smokies should be able to improve that broadcast with just the purchase of a couple of cameras.

South Bend Cubs

One of the things most affiliates still do is let the starting pitcher get to pick the hat they wear each night. For South Bend, they really rode the red away cap with the SB logo to a championship in 2019. And that road cap also looks great at home with the pinstripe jersey or the blue alternate jersey. I would love to see them add an alternate red away jersey with the same lettering as the road grays or a logo like the alternate blue. South Bend could also add an alternate road cap that is navy blue and has the same SB piping but in red. I think both those additions would look really sharp.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans 

The Pelicans pretty much have knocked it out of the park the past couple of years with alternate jerseys. Between the Myrtle Beach Mermen and the Palmetto State navy blue, there’s really not much left for them to improve on. The only thing I would suggest is more Pelican Pirate gear all the time. We got to see them wear their Pelican Pirate jerseys only a couple of times last year. I’d like to see it happen more often as it’s a really classic look as the logo is just plain lit.

Mesa 

This is not really that strange of a request. Every minor league team has three camera shots of every game in the Arizona Complex League. There’s usually a centerfield shot and then one from first base side and another from the third base side. We’ve seen the kids post videos of their home runs that way on Instagram. For the rest of us, I would love to see just an MILB TV feed of the Arizona Complex League from a centerfield camera. It doesn’t have to have broadcasters, I would like sound though. It would be cool just to sit and watch the rookie league ball  and we could use the game day feature to figure out who’s up every time. The technology exists to do this. I don’t know why it’s not being done but it should be.

Back to the News…

The Cubs picked up a couple players this week. They selected pitcher Conner Menez in the minor league portion of the rule five draft. It was also announced that the Cubs signed 19-year-old international free-agent pitcher Jair Jimenez and assigned him to the Dominican Summer League for next year.

The biggest news of the week was actually that the Iowa Cubs had been sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings. To those of us that just watch the game on MiLB.TV, not much is going to change. We’re still going to have Alex Cohen on the mic and we’re still going to get the same video. We will have to wait and see how the actual game day experiences for fans that attend the ballpark changes. In a press release, DBH said the following:

“(Diamond Baseball Holdings) will support its clubs with ticket sales, partnerships, naming rights, food & beverage, merchandise, content strategy, collectibles/authentics/NFTs and media rights, tapping into the broader Endeavor network… for expertise across the various disciplines.”

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/endeavor-to-buy-nine-minor-league-teams/

In other good news this week, Sam Weiderhaft announced he is coming back to broadcast for the Pelicans again. Sam’s gameday notes are pretty much legendary behind the scenes. Anything you could possibly want to know about a player is the PDF he sends out everyday around 1 pm.

Andrew Romine announced that he was retiring after playing in Iowa and Chicago last year. Good luck to him in his next step.

North Side Bound put out a pic from Yohendrick Pinango’s Instagram of him post-op after undergoing some form of surgery on his left arm/hand.

Pimping the Facebook Account

In addition to the website and Twitter account, you can also follow us over on Facebook where we have some additional content in the Photo Albums sections. Those contain some pics taken by Rich Biesterfeld and me. We will be adding more as the winter goes along.

Coming Up Next Week on North Side Bound

Even though this may seem like the doldrums of winter, we still have several things happening at North Side Bound next week. Tomorrow’s mailbag post examines whether the Cubs have an actual ace somewhere in the system. On Tuesday, Greg Zumach will be making a trade with a Guardians prospect site as they swap prospect-for-prospect with us. That will be exciting.

On Wednesday, the profile/to-do-list series takes a look at what Cristian Hernandez should do to get ready for his first first full year stateside. On Friday, the position rankings continue as left-handed relief pitchers get the call. We will also be ready in case there’s any breaking news or transactions. Greg Zumach will also delve into the murky waters of the second round of the draft and see what could be lurking for the Cubs there.

I also feel like I need to do a “10 Things I Think” post since it has been awhile. Check back every day to see what’s going on.

Jam of the Week

It’s been cold, windy, and rainy here the past few days. To get a little light in my life, I have been checking out some brand new Punch Brothers jams. They are five virtuosos who play bluegrass instruments but will play anything from Radiohead to Bach to traditional bluegrass to their own music to anything they darn well please. They are the best band on the planet right now and it is not even close. Here’s some good old timey Americana music. I could listen to them all day, and sometimes I do.