Had he been playing for any other team, Tommy La Stella would’ve been immediately released had he failed to report to AAA. Just imagine Mike Matheny handling a player who’d refused an assignment. The Cubs are different, though, and La Stella further explained just how much so when he sat down with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal to talk about the drama and what came out of it (link requires subscription, which is highly recommended).
If you don’t remember the saga back in 2016, let me quickly summarize what went down.