MLB Winter Meetings: Day 1

The Cubs don’t appear ready to make any big splashes this week, likely more content to add young, cost-controlled pitching, according to Mark Gonzales of the Tribune:

The Cubs' needs entering the winter meetings aren't urgent, but they might have to move more prospects to add players who can help them achieve their twin goals of repeating as champions and becoming a perennial postseason power.

That might not be so terrible considering the Cubs already have some young cornerstones. 2016 National League Most Valuable Player Kris Bryant, 24, is entrenched at third base (and can assist at other positions). Kyle Schwarber (23) and Willson Contreras (24) appear to be mainstays regardless of position.

That young depth enables the Cubs to move some of their younger assets, such as 23-year-old switch-hitters Jeimer Candelario and Victor Caratini, for pitching help.

There hasn’t been much news Monday morning yet, so I am opening this thread for you to discuss various Winter Meetings doings during the day. If the Cubs make any moves, of course I’ll post a separate article.

One bit of news Monday morning came in a MLB press release announcing that Under Armour will soon provide all MLB uniforms:

Beginning in the 2020 MLB season, Under Armour will be the exclusive MLB provider of all on-field uniform components including jerseys featuring prominent Under Armour branding, baselayer, game-day outerwear, and year-round training apparel for all 30 MLB Clubs. Fanatics, a global leader of licensed sports merchandise, will be granted broad consumer product licensing rights to manage the manufacturing and distribution of Under Armour and Fanatics fan gear, which include jerseys at retail, name & number products and Postseason apparel. Under Armour and Fanatics expect to offer an assortment of new fan gear apparel and accessories at retail, prior to the 2020 season.

“Prominent Under Armour branding” would seem to be the key words there. How big will the UA logo be? The current uniform provider, Majestic, has a logo on each uniform’s sleeve, but it’s pretty understated. A clue might have been provided by the MLB official World Series caps worn by the Cubs and Indians, which for the first time featured the manufacturer’s logo (New Era) on the side of an actual game cap.

It’s all about money, of course.

Feel free to use this thread for Winter Meetings discussion all day Monday.