Cub Tracks Gets A Brain

Cub Tracks wouldn’t rule out a return to Thursday’s subject matter, which included the Rule 5 draft, today in baseball history, big trade, buttfaces, and other bullets, but certainly today won’t be a complete repeat performance. After all, Koji Uehara has also signed since then, as the Cubs continue to pursue the ideal of relief pitching depth. That would be better than the prehistoric method of simply saying bas-relief and making the starting pitchers work longer, which has been the picture in man-caves across America for long and long, Dusty Baker.

Sadly, Dexter Fowler has gone to the Birds, and we’ll have to watch him wear weird red togs for the next few years. I’m sure we’ll all wish him well when he’s playing against other teams. I understand that team Theo has designs on using the pick they get as compensation for someone named Broglio. Or they are ordering a delicious sandwich and becoming embroiled in some kind of imbroglio. I’m not completely clear on the concept but they generally seem to know what they’re about, so I will bow to their superior wisdom.

Heckta smeckta genuflecta!

On this day in baseball history:

• 1926 - Cleveland coach Jack McAllister is named to replace Tris Speaker as Indians manager.
• 1928 - At the NL meeting, President John Heydler proposes the designated hitter for pitchers to improve and speed up the game. He contends fans are tired of seeing weak-hitting pitchers come to bat.
• 1930 - The Baseball Writers Association votes to continue the custom of selecting an MVP for each league. Beginning in 1931, the annual vote of the BBWAA will designate a player for this honor in each league. Previous MVP winners will be able to repeat under the new rules, something that was prohibited by the AL in the 1920s.
• 1934 - The NL votes to permit night baseball, authorizing a maximum of seven games by any team installing lights. The AL does not grant permission for night games until 1937.
• 1941 - The Giants acquire Johnny Mize from the Cardinals for three players and $50,000.
• 1950 - At the winter meeting, held in St. Petersburg, Florida, major league owners vote 9-7 against renewing Commissioner Happy Chandler's contract for a new term, starting in 1951. Fred Saigh of the Cardinals led the opposition to Chandler, who had jeopardized the reserve clause and ordered investigations of the alleged gambling activities of several owners.
• 1951 - Joe DiMaggio officially retires as a member of the New York Yankees with 361 home runs and an average of .325 after 13 seasons. His 56-game, consecutive-game hitting streak in l941 will stand as one of the all-time best diamond achievements.
• 1954 - With the Athletics poised to move to Kansas City, the Phillies purchase Connie Mack Stadium.
• 1959 - Arnold Johnson of the Kansas City A's gives the New York Yankees an early Christmas present when he gift wraps Roger Maris in pinstripes. The Yankees acquire the slugger in a seven-player deal that sends pitcher Don Larsen, right fielder Hank Bauer, first baseman Marv Throneberry, and left fielder Norm Siebern to the Athletics.
• 1973 - The Cubs come up with a team Ron Santo will agree to be traded to: the White Sox. Pitcher Steve Stone and three other players go to the Cubs.
• 1975 - In two separate deals, the Yankees acquire pitchers Dock Ellis and Ken Brett, and second baseman Willie Randolph from the Pirates for pitcher Doc Medich and outfielder Mickey Rivers and pitcher Ed Figueroa from the Angels for outfielder Bobby Bonds.
• 1989 - The Royals sign free agent Mark Davis to a four-year contract. Davis and Bret Saberhagen will make the 1990 Royals the first team ever to have both defending Cy Young Award winners.

Okay, now that the rituals have been observed through one-way bulletproof glass at the bottom of a whisky tumbler, we can get on with the business at hand, which is Cubs infotainment in its purest, most distilled form. As always * means autoplay on (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

More about this from Aldo Soto. Cubs have their morans too.

• Joe Ward (DNAinfo): Cubs Fans stake out Mag Mile to snag a photo with World Series trophy. “The Cubs have released few details about the trophy's next moves...”
• Lewis Lazare (Chicago Business Journal): Inside the Cubs' Trophy Tour: How the World Champions cut sponsorship deal with State Farm. The Cubs thought they’d be in good hands.
• Chris Bahr (Fox Sports): How airplane passengers helped break the news of Dexter Fowler's Cardinals contract. “There will be no napping on this flight, Mr. Fowler.”
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com): Cubs thank Fowler, receive comp pick. “Signing the outfielder will cost the Cardinals their first-round pick (19th overall) in the 2017 Draft because the Cubs made him a qualifying offer.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune): Hard to replace Dexter Fowler in clubhouse, but life goes on for Cubs. “Fowler's intangibles are what set him apart.”
• Mark Saxon (ESPN*): Dexter Fowler on new team: Cardinals 'always in the hunt'. So it goes — he went.
• CSN Chicago*: Dexter Fowler: Cubs-Cardinals rivalry 'almost even'. "I can't tell what the future has in mind, but I feel like this team has a chance to win a World Series," Fowler said.
• Grant Brisbee (SB Nation): Dexter Fowler is the kind of player the Cardinals usually invent out of sticks and sand. “You think I’m kidding about the “sticks and sand” stuff until you remember Rick Ankiel.”
• Phil Rogers (MLB.com): Cubs-Cards rivalry more than making moves. “Fowler and Jason Heyward will always be connected, especially by partisan fans, and they're going to be friends who earned a World Series ring together.”
• Adam Nissen (Sports Mockery): Cardinal Fans are already pissed at Dexter Fowler and you’ll never believe why. #BFIB LOL.
• Mike Rosenbaum (MLB.com): Cubs prospects Chesny Young, Corey Black excelling in winter ball. Black has posted “a 0.45 ERA with a league-leading 12 saves in 20 innings. Young opened his offseason with a 10-game hitting streak and a .457/.537/.486 slash line.”
• Dan Szymborski (ESPN-Insider {$}*): Who won the most at the winter meetings? He gives the Cubs negative value for their moves.
• Jim Bowden (ESPN-Insider {$}*): What we learned from the winter meetings. The Royals termed Jorge Soler ‘an average outfielder’.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Cubs Reportedly still involved in discussions with righty Tyson Ross. Expanding on Patrick Mooney article.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): With bullpen mostly set, Cubs still after Tyson Ross. “...there’s no guarantee he’ll be the same pitcher he once was.”
• John Arguello (Cubs Den): Cubs still interested in Tyson Ross. “It would seem like a no-brainer to at least take a flyer...”
• Jared Wyllys (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): The bullpen’s new 1-2 punch. “...the Cubs have three of the last four pitchers to record the final out in a World Series.” Subscriber version.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): What should Cubs offer when they talk extension during Jake Arrieta’s arb discussions? “If granted GM-for-the day powers, what kind of a contract would you offer him?”
• CSN Chicago: Kris Bryant signs multi-year extension with Adidas. Enhancing his bottom line by signing on the dotted line.
• Carlos Portocarrero (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Player profile: Carl Edwards Jr. “...you’ll be seeing a lot more of the String Bean Slinger on the mound...”
• CBS Chicago: Jason Heyward moves to Arizona to make ‘critical changes’ to swing in offseason. “He doesn’t have to become something he hasn’t already been,” said Jed Hoyer.

Food for thought:

• Rachael Lallensack (Science): Supercharged silly putty can detect spider footsteps. Okay, but why? “The future of blood pressure readings...the material is 250 times more sensitive than the cheapest metal-based sensor on the market.”
• Agata Blaszczak-Boxe (Live Science): Does marijuana use affect a person's vision? More research is needed. No address or phone posted for volunteers.
• Josh Hrala (Science Alert): This strange material could reveal the link between classical and quantum physics. The material in question is a type of topological insulator. What’s that? read on.

Thanks for reading. Smell you Tuesday.