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Here's the latest from around the web.
From Comcast SportsNet Chicago:
- Jake Arrieta for Cy Young? Joe Maddon doesn't think the conversation should stop there; he also thinks that Arrieta should be in the conversation for the National League Most Valuable Player.
- Maddon may try to get Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant some rest before the wild card game on October 7, but he's still looking to "win as many games as possible."
- Former Cubs manager and current Royals hitting coach Dale Sveum always pictured the Cubs making a turnaround. Just not this quickly.
- Who would the Cubs rather play in the wild card game, the Pirates or the Cardinals? Maddon doesn't have a preference, but Tony Andracki writes that facing the Pirates in a five-game series instead of the wild card game is about as scary as it gets.
- Starlin Castro has gained a lot of confidence. Part of the reason for it is the fans' reaction to his walk-up music.
- The Cubs honored Aramis Ramirez before Sunday's game by giving him a number 16 panel from the center field scoreboard.
From Cubs.com:
- Anthony Castrovince looks at the current statistics for Jake Arrieta and Zack Greinke, and there's only one thing I can think of to say: they're both insanely good.
- Is Joe Maddon planning on doing anything differently to prepare for the wild card game? As he puts it: "We played them 19 times this year. If you don't know them by now, you're not going to figure it out in one miracle evening."
- Tom Ricketts is very thankful for the patience of the Cubs fans during the rebuild, saying that "I don't think many teams could have done what we just did in terms of asking everyone to be patient and believe in us."
From ESPN Chicago:
- Jon Greenberg believes that Jake Arrieta should win the Cy Young award, in large part because of his tenacity and consistency.
- Dale Sveum saw something special in Arrieta when he was the Cubs' manager in 2013, wondering "how could someone give that up?"
- It was close, but the Cubs came up just short of three million fans for the 2015 season. The final home attendance was 2,959,812, which was still an increase of 307,699 from last season.
From CBS Chicago:
- Nick Shepkowski looks back to September 28, 2011 -- one of the most exciting nights in baseball history -- and the butterfly effect that it had for the Cubs. If you weren't watching baseball that night, all I can say is that you missed out on a lot and should try to find highlights of it.
- If you're a fan of concerts at Wrigley Field, you'll be happy to know that Tom Ricketts is planning to continue having them. Regardless of what Paul Sullivan thinks.
- As for talks about an extension for Theo Epstein, Ricketts said that those talks would be happening "pretty soon".
- Epstein had plenty of high praise for Ricketts, saying that when it came to the rebuild that "Tom has been the most patient one out of everybody."
- This week's "Behind the Plate" looks at the newly built Kerry Wood Cubs Field.
From the Chicago Tribune:
- From the wonderful world of Maddonisms, it's the new name for the wild card game: "Our little Super Bowl."
- Preparations are underway in the event that there are playoff games at Wrigley Field.
- The signs continue to point toward more available financial flexibility, with Tom Ricketts saying that "Theo Epstein will have some resources this offseason."
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
- The new television deal in 2019 is also on Tom Ricketts' radar, with Theo Epstein calling the anticipated deal a "game-changer" for the organization.
- Joe Maddon on the possibility of playing the Pirates in the wild card game: "I know we can beat them. But they know they can beat us, too."
- Hey, Al's in the Sun-Times! Or at least his picture of the supermoon is from Sunday night.
From Bleacher Nation:
- Baseball America released its list of the Top 20 prospects from the Northwest (Low-A) League, with seven players from the Eugene Emeralds making the list.
- Michael Cerami takes an early look at the top free agents as ranked by Jeff Passan and Tim Dierkes.
From Chicago Cubs Online:
- One of the big reasons I like CCO: Their transcriptions of radio interviews. Here's Theo Epstein from Sunday morning with Barry Rozner on The Score.
Today's food for thought:
- New images released on Monday have confirmed that there was -- and maybe still is -- water flowing on Mars.
- Over 50 items have been recovered from an ancient Greek shipwreck. It's estimated that the shipwreck occurred over 2,000 years ago.