Cub Tracks Looks at MAD

What, me worry?

From Comcast Sportsnet Chicago:

• Tony Andracki: Around the NL Central -- offseason in review: Cardinals; Pirates; Brewers; Reds. Thumbnails to chew on for each NL Central opponent.

Imagine it drawn by Mort Drucker.

From ESPN Chicago:

• Jim Bowden [INSIDER -- $]: Cubs could use a starter. What's missing for all 30 teams.
• Christina Kahrl: Picks to click: Breakout pitchers for 2016. Speculation about ten pitchers who may have good fortune on the mound in 2016. At least two are or have been Cubs.

Imagine it drawn by Don Martin.

From Cubs.com:

• Richard Justice: Amazing race for 2015 Cy Young award. "Years from now, another generation of baseball fans may still be appreciating how good these guys were in 2015."
• John Schlegel: Yogi Berra, Ernie Banks left lasting legacies. They certainly did. Another entry into the alliteration hall of fame, as well.
  

Imagine it drawn by Antonio Prohias.

From the Chicago Tribune:

• Paul Sullivan: Will tightening Hall of Fame requirements affect selections? "As the years go by, the debate over who belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame often is less heated than the argument over who deserves to elect them. It's a fair question, though you shouldn't expect things to change any time soon."

Imagine it awash in Groo, as drawn by Sergio Aragones.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

• Kyle Thele: Looking back to the ten best moments in 2015 for the Cubs. 2015 was especially good to the Chicago Cubs.Let's take a look at some highlights.

Jack Davis has this one.

From Cubs Den:

• John Arguello: Jorge Soler can shine in the shadows of the Cubs 2016 lineup. It isn't LIT 101-approved to mix metaphors that way but Arguello has a point.
  

From Bleacher Nation:

• Brett Taylor: Updates on Cubans Yaisel Sierra and Lazero Armentos (Lazarito). We continue to follow the stories of the two players, each of whom may possibly intrigue the Cubs.
  

From Cubs Insider:

• Evan Altman: Insider's Inbox: Jason Heyward's role, Cliff Lee, potential trades and assessments of Home Alone 3 and In Living Color. No further explanation except that it bears reading.

Al Jaffee folds in all three of the above.

Miscellaneous:

• David Miniel: Cubs could find themselves in a pickle. I like the horseradish ones best but a garlicky dill does nicely too. We're talking about the outfield in this article, though.
• Jordan Campbell: 5 predictions for 2016. Jorge Soler trade talk and other discussion.
• Chicago Cubs Online: Heyward, one of the most interesting persons in baseball and other news. Jerry Crasnick has a scale of "interesting" and this has some palaver about that.
• George Castle: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Ex-Cardinals who went on to become Cubs. "You run a big risk by flapping your gums in baseball...Heyward gives ex-teammates too much food for thought moving to the North Side."

Food for thought:

• New species of human may have shared our caves -- and beds. We might have liked to have them for dinner, too. "Controversial bone discoveries suggest we even interbred with and cannibalised these mystery hominins." Homonyms breed whenever I write, too. But then I'm of the family hominidae.
• Customize an open-source HAL for your home. I can't do that, Dave. A study in Raspberry.
• Go MAD. MAD Baseball Academy, that is.
• MAD looks at baseball.