I admit to paying way too much time on the transaction page and the goings on in MLB. Not that it’s led to any features lately, but keeping an eye on what guys are taking new jobs with other teams may lead to something in the future.

The other day, I noted someone in the Dodgers organization was elevated to Major League development integration coach. What the heck does that mean? Decades ago, Monty Python would have crafted a five-minute skit, making fun of this flummery. This is a perfect example of word salad.

I think the guy previously was involved with training and conditioning-which is hilarious. If you’ve attended a professional baseball game in the last 10 years, you’ll note that 110% of pregame is spent on stretching and running with elastic bands rather than fielding. Yes, I know they do that beforehand.

Even though most of the players are finely tuned physical specimens, a number of players will pull up lame running the bases. They suffer soft tissue injuries despite having the best professionals monitoring their every move.

Yesterday morning I listened to a radio interview with the Cubs primary hitting coach. The interviewer, a noted local reporter, started out by saying he and his two assistant hitting coaches…. He did this with a straight face and didn’t question why any team would need three hitting coaches. Adding to the absurdity of the situation is the fact that the Cubs are not the only ML team with three hitting coaches. Despite all of this expertise, the Cubs offense was not prolific in 2024.

I’m of the belief that teams hire all of these guys to throw bp, hit fungoes and grounders to the infielders. It’s no different than all of the associate positions in the NFL.

Strip away all of the fancy names, and it sounds like any bureaucracy.