The Jose Martinez trade has been completed. Details, and a call for greater transparency from MLB

The Cubs and Rays have announced the completion of the Jose Martinez trade. Martinez was added to the Cubs in August for two players to be named later or cash. The Rays selected cash for the second choice. Earlier, infielder Pedro Martinez was sent to Tampa Bay as the first half of the return. While I'm pleased the Rays didn't snag another prospect, most of the rest of this article is a call for transparency from MLB and Commissioner Rob Manfred.

As I write this, cities are awaiting word on whether they will be affiliated with a major-league club or not. Decisions on the cities with minor-league squads are being made, and all that's for certain is the puppet-master pulling the strings: Manfred. Cities with decades of great baseball histories may be left out in the relative cold, because "reasons." Some teams have already found out via Twitter that they wouldn’t be affiliates going forward:

That led to this:

Transparency doesn't seem a strong point for Manfred. He makes edicts and uses his bully pulpit, but when Justin Turner whiffs a COVID-19 screen, Turner plays the first seven innings of the game and nobody gets punished. The Astros are found cheating and the owner ends up making money on the deal. Manfred doesn't seem very good about being upfront with details.

Back to PTBNL trades: They often turn to the default, which is cash. While I certainly don't need to know the amount of Benjamins changing hands, knowing when a trade is actually complete is a useful bit of information for those of us digging that angle of the game.

The return for one month of Josh Osich, for instance, might have been decided already. Or, perhaps, not. We await further details, as MLB doesn't lead with them in these cases, very often. If Rob Manfred wants to represent himself as the fan of the game he claims to be, he ought to do a few things to satisfy fans of the game. Show greater transparency. Especially when it costs him no money.