If you stumble across any of my Tweets on the Chargers roster building, or compensatory pick details, consider checking out our site at StormCloud.blog! It’s free, no ads, just hosted by myself and @RyanWatkins20 to chat about two things we are passionate about - roster-building (me) and scheme/coaching/scouting (Ryan). We have a small but knowledgeable community that generates great discussion on the site, without the worries of running into political banter or other crap you run into on X. 😂 Come check us out! I’ll detail some of the new features our site has below!

Thanks to the Giants and Brewers, we have a real-life example of the three-pump rule being actual lore.

For those curious about BLA, the case involving Fernando Tatis, Jr., and how we operate as a company please read this entire post that debunks several misconceptions. BLA has operated for over 10 years, signing more than 700 players. Our founder, Michael Schwimer, was a former MLB player who built this company to help players maximize their chances of MLB success. Misconceptions: “BLA is investing in people.” BLA has never invested in a person. BLA invests in a specific income stream: a player’s future earnings as a Major League professional baseball player. For example, BLA receives nothing from Fernando Tatis Jr.’s endorsement deals or any other income he earns or may earn in another field or profession. “Players are obligated to play baseball if they do a deal with BLA.” There is no obligation in the BLA contract that requires a player to continue to play baseball. Multiple players have signed with BLA and quit baseball within days of receiving the capital. There is no recourse to BLA if a player never reaches the Major Leagues for any reason. “BLA does deals with minors.” BLA has never done a deal with a player under the age of 18. “Players do not understand BLA deals.” Not only do players have their own lawyers review the contracts with them, but each player is also asked a series of questions confirming that they understand all material terms about the contract. If they do not answer those questions correctly on record, BLA will not sign a contract with them. As an example, before Fernando Tatis, Jr., signed an agreement with BLA he was asked, “Do you understand, that by signing this contract, if you make $500M in the big leagues, you will owe BLA $50M throughout the course of your career?” Fernando replied “yes.” “BLA offers loans to players.” BLA has never offered a loan to a player. Every deal BLA does is an investment transaction. Loans have principal, interest rates, and payback schedules. Our agreements have none of these things because the funds we provide a player are a non-recourse investment. BLA offers a player a set amount of upfront capital in exchange for a percentage of the player’s future MLB earnings. The player can choose the % (and therefore the total investment $ amount) that he is comfortable with. This means every player can do a deal for as little as 1% of future earnings if he chooses. The player makes the choice. If a player does not make it to the MLB, he owes BLA nothing. The relationship is similar to an entrepreneur who accepts outside capital from investors to increase his business plan’s odds of success. Players seek out BLA investments to increase their odds of success as a professional athlete, just like an entrepreneur gives up financial upside in the future to improve his chances of success. BLA invests hoping that the player is successful but also knowing that the investment will be lost if the player does not make it to MLB—just like any business investor who has no guarantee he will ever see a return. “Players do these deals because they are betting against themselves.” Many players use BLA funds for nutritional upgrades, trainers, physical care, analytical services, mental clarity, investment opportunities, and several other things to help increase their chances of making it to the big leagues. These players are signing a deal with BLA to give themselves the highest possible chance to achieve their dream of reaching and staying in the MLB. They are betting ON themselves. “BLA is taking advantage of players.” As noted above, BLA works to ensure players have a full understanding of the terms of the contract. We provide guaranteed capital to players with no certainty of a player’s promotion or success in the big leagues. The truth is that only about 10% of minor league players will play even 1 day in MLB, and roughly 70% of the players who enter agreements with BLA will either not make it to the big leagues at all or, if they do, not pay BLA more than the original BLA investment. In fact, BLA signed deals with nearly 200 players who fit this profile. They collectively received more than $40 million from BLA. What do they have in common? They were able to use and keep BLA’s investment even if they never made it to MLB and even if they never came close to paying BLA the original investment amount. “Why is there so much bad press on BLA?” As noted above, the vast majority of BLA players don’t make it to MLB but still get to benefit from BLA’s investment. We understand that those stories get no coverage because most readers aren’t interested to read that “Player X gets cut from professional baseball but is now able to transition easily to his next chapter in life because of the investment from BLA.” Meanwhile an isolated dispute with a high-profile player like Fernando gets thousands of clicks. We understand this reality but the facts are the facts—the public only hears about a small number of disgruntled players, not the majority of players who have worked with BLA to improve their lives and their chances. Interestingly, this type of bad press doesn’t exist in any other industry. For example, when early investors invested in Amazon, and Jeff Bezos accepted upfront capital and gave up future financial upside in order to give his business the best chances to succeed, even though those investors have made 1000x return on their investment, no one thinks those investors took advantage of Jeff Bezos. “Why would a player who thinks they will definitely make it to the MLB do this deal?” 99% of players that do deals with BLA believe that they will be future MLB All Stars. In our conversations with players, the most common theme is that they believe they can use the money from BLA while still in the minor leagues to help them get to the big leagues faster, ultimately increasing their career earning potential. They seek BLA’s investment to help them realize their full potential on the field and in their future earnings. Our original relationship with Fernando is a good example. After he received $2 million, Tatis said publicly that he used the funds to hire a personal trainer, upgrade his offseason practice field, and improve his nutrition and living arrangements. He said that he wouldn’t “spend that money stupidly” and he freely acknowledged what would happen if he made “all that big money.” His own Father, also a successful former MLB player, praised what BLA did for Fernando Jr. because it allowed him to better prepare to reach the big leagues as quickly as possible. “Have BLA’s agreements been tested legally?” Yes. Although the vast majority of our 700 players have used their BLA funds and lived up to their promises, a small handful have legally challenged their agreements. The agreements have been upheld by arbitrators and judges numerous times. Most recently an arbitrator and retired judge ruled against Fernando on all of his claims and awarded BLA all of the money Fernando owed plus attorneys’ fees and interest. Fernando’s lawyers then challenged that award in court and they lost again. We are proud of the work we do with the players who enjoy long careers and earn generational wealth. But we are just as proud of our investments that go to the vast majority of players who never make it but leave the game in a better financial position because of BLA. The choice to enter a deal with BLA is always the player’s to make. @JoePompliano @darrenrovell @heitner @Sportico @mikedeportes @ryanripkenshow @LaPelotaDeAqui @McCannSportsLaw @kbadenhausen @FOS @TheJacobTurner @DavidPSamson @jasonrmcintyre

This is why I’ll never understand players digging their heels in and refusing to approve a salary cap. This is the MLB’s proposal - not the union- yet it adds nearly $600M to player payroll if you bring the over-ceiling teams to the ceiling, and under-floor teams to the floor.

Current payrolls above $245.3M proposed ceiling, via @EthanHullihen: Dodgers ($418M) Mets ($383M) Yankees ($335M) Blue Jays ($322M) Phillies ($315M) Red Sox ($263M) Padres ($259M) Braves ($249M) Tigers ($246M) Cubs ($245.5M) Current payrolls below $171.2M proposed floor: Reds ($150M) Rockies ($144M) Athletics ($142M) Pirates ($140M) Brewers ($138M) Twins ($128M) Nationals ($119M) Cardinals ($115M) White Sox ($113M) Rays ($111M) Guardians ($98M) Marlins ($81M)

Pittsburgh Zoo got crushed trading 7 y/o Frankie for 33 y/o silverback Little Joe. Classic “win now” panic, mortgaging the future. Except their pipeline is already cooking up another top prospect nobody saw coming. Trade bait… or the new foundation? Only Pitt knows.

Small details - like why the blue/green/red button order is inverted, kinda bug me. If you’re doing it, you gotta go all in. Andy has to be written on the bottom, the heel with the Star Command logo should have been green, and the laser on the toe would have done it for me.

The Force is strong with this signed ball from Mason Miller 🔥 Repost and reply for a chance to win it! Experience Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu only in theaters May 22

They're making the Chargers scrub the video they had planned for Vrabel week

Honestly, the first thing I thought when I saw the Cowboys War Room was this 😂

News we’ve been waiting for.

The funniest possible ending to the Watson saga would be for him to finally stay healthy and have just a good enough season to kill the Browns draft position in a good QB draft. Get 8 or 9 wins, and actually make the Browns consider signing another hefty deal.