Cub Tracks Loves Home Cooking

In our previous episode, Cub Tracks, Mark III held forth on BBQ, meatloaf, Hammel and tongs, the Hendricks experience, and other bullets. We will inform interested parties that the barbecue sauce included mango and bourbon, the meatloaf was dry, Hammel picked up a win, Hendricks set his arm on fire, and Kevlar saved the day.

This time around, it's the day after the Mets came to town for the first time this season. The Mets of course were undefeated against the Cubs on the road, coming in. They still are, but they were, too.

1. option a) Now the Cubs have a win in their pocket, having erased the schneid in the seasons series against the hated Metropolitans. X

2. option b) Now the hated Metropolitans have a loose meat sandwich in their pocket and are aiming for some meatloaf.
3. option c) Rain kept anything from happening.
   

In any event, the second game of this series commences tonight. Meatloaf is still on the table for either team -- the middle game of the series marks a fork in the road. Cub Tracks offers a bit of this, that, and the other for your infotainment experience, and just a bit of garnish on the plate.

I assume you've seen this:

Yankees could target Cubs' Triple-A first baseman Dan Vogelbach in a deal for either Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller.

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 18, 2016

Okay then.

1. Not sure if trolling...
2. Whither Greg Bird?
3. Why not both?

*autoplay on (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome)

Why not indeed:

• Brett Taylor has thoughts on the subject I and II: Andrew Miller tops Cubs target, not for Kyle Schwarber, Dan Vogelbach's name comes up. That article is partially compiled from a George King III article and a Jeff Passan* column about Brian Cashman's love for a mythical blue "ox". Taylor, like everyone, thinks there's a trade fit there, but declines to elaborate. The conversation indicates that the Cubs are making low-end offers at present.
  
• Brendan Kuty disputes this notion and claims that Kyle Schwarber is still the Yankees' target, cherry-picking and seemingly misinterpreting a phrase in the Passan column.
• Corey Francis is on the Chris Archer train: Is Archer the answer?
• Aldo Soto also has thoughts. His are about the Cubs #1 trade priority.

And then.

• Wayne Cavadi (Today's Knuckleball): Dan Vogelbach thriving in his Iowa Cubs debut. This has been, perhaps, Vogelbach's best season.
• Chris Kulawik (Chicago Cubs Online): Player acquisition cost: Josh Reddick. A combination of Jorge Soler and a cast of thousands.
• Sean Sears (Sports Mockery): Cubs and Sox could solve their problems with this trade. Javier Baez+ for Jose Quintana and. Fueled by Steve Rosenbloom column.

More things:

• Kristi Acker (NY Daily News): Cubs would like to actually beat the Mets for once. Ouch. Anthony Rizzo said it, though.
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times*): The target: Cubs vs. Mets. Let's not see any Jheurys Familia, please.
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com): Dexter Fowler, Jorge Soler to start Minors rehab assignments. Is that the sound of trumpets and hoofbeats I hear? Neil from Chicago Cubs Online chimes in.
  
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com): Joe Maddon gives Ben Zobrist his own All-Star break. Zobrist is advancing in baseball years and requires more recovery time. Similarly, Jake Arrieta also benefitted from a long break.
  
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com): Routine keeping Matt Szczur reliable in a pinch.
• Leigh Coridan (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Kris Bryant's sophomore statement: Warm is the new hot. Keeping an even keel is the answer, to be pacific. Bryant does prefer the Pirates' uniforms, though, according to CSN*. Let's hope that isn't foreboding a reverse Ramirez.
• Russell Dorsey (Daily Herald): Defense turning Kris Bryant into two-dimensional superstar. I am guessing that the headline doesn't refer to Edwin Abbott's creation, but instead to Bryant's versatility.
  
• Nate Greabe (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Young Cubs: Finding MLB value one way or another. Greabe looks at members of the minor-league Cubs and contemplates the future.
• Tony Andracki (CSN Chicago*): Cubs insist meeting with Mets is 'just another series'. It isn't like the Cubs are gonna come out and say "The Mets are in our heads". So, okay, yeah. And they might not be. But he who protesteth the loudest, and so forth...Kyle Schwarber would seem to agree with the original statement*.
• Tony Andracki (CSN Chicago*): Jake Arrieta dismisseth the Leath Police, erm, his critics, and is ready to move forward. I love "disdainful Jake". His attitude works best when he's dominating, though.
• Rick Morrissey (Chicago Sun-Times*): A lot is riding on which Jake Arrieta shows up against the Mets. The meatloaf might depend on it.
• Tim Huwe (The Zygote50): How many relievers are needed? One to throw the ball, and seven to turn the umpire in the proper direction. Huwe pens the tale of bullpen numbers.
• Joe Maddon echoes Bryant's approach in saying that the Cubs don't want to 'raise or lower depending on competition'.  I imagine Joel Quenneville feels the same way.[VIDEO]
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune): Joe Maddon sees new trend in GMs. Embrace the numbers or perish.
• Toni Ginnetti (Chicago Sun-Times*): Eyes, not replay, tell Joe Maddon when to argue. ‘‘I never send somebody inside and say, ‘Come back so I can yell at somebody.’ I argue based on what I see,' he says.
• Paul Lebowitz (Today's Knuckleball): Joe Maddon doesn't have to do anything to address Cubs' slump. Changing his even-keeled style would be TNT for the tillerman.
• Tom Ley (Deadspin): Kyle Schwarber was once a high-school choir stud. The Cubs appear to have deleted the dance video from YouTube that was shown on the MLB Network. Funny stuff.
• Matt Peck (Sports Mockery): Kyle Schwarber hints that comeback could be sooner than you think. "...it’s curious that he didn’t flat-out deny any possibility of seeing him in the postseason." This article is referring to quotes from this David Kaplan interview [AUDIO]
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider):From Pilates to PCP, Jason Hammel follows fads to find fulfillment. Assonance yay. Altman opines that Jason is a wannabe Arrieta.
• Neil Greenberg (The Washington Post): Three teams the Cubs should be worried about. Picks Red Sox, Giants, Nationals out of the hopper, provides data.
• Patrick M. O'Connell (Chicago Tribune): Businessman, ballpark vendor form friendship over grave marker for friend. Sonny Garg and 85-year-old William Griffin have made a few trips to the cemetery together to visit their friend's grave.
• Richard Babcock (Wall Street Journal-$) The first shudder of an all-too-familiar Cubs feeling.
  
• Jerry Useem (The Atlantic): The curse of the loyal sports fan. "The main source of the Cubs’ curse was the fans themselves."

Food for thought:

• Emily Conover (Science News): Scientists throw curve at knuckleball explanation. Emily ruins everything. ‘Drag crisis,’ not baseball’s seams, dictates fluttery flight paths, is what a new study suggests. Read on to find out what that means.
  
• Joshua A. Krisch (The Week): Just in time for Jake's start, Krisch reports on the surprising science of beard cleanliness. "In general, we have no need to fear the beard." My t-shirt disagrees.
• Leslie Josephs (Quartz): The science of serving draft beer at 35,000 feet. If it works, they'll need more bathrooms.

The train is now leaving Lanford for Chicagoland. Meatloaf sounds good. See you in the dining car.