Cub Tracks rails against the system

I’ll skip the jokes today, thank you. I feel funny about some things, and not funny ha-ha. Not going to get deep into the young players tweeting racist/sexist garbage other than to reference that it’s happening, and that people of any age should know better than to make such sentiments public, or at all.

And while I’m ranting, I’ll also note that I find it kinda funny that a lot of people that are dead-set against steroids because ‘cheating’ are all for pitch-framing. And the robot umps are cheating, too, says Sheryl Ring. Mmm, nuance. Tasty. Bring back the spitball. Pound that beer, boys. Everybody’s doing it.

There needs to be one standard. It’s just that people cannot agree who should be setting that standard. The old boys’ club that runs the sport think they should, but I submit that they aren’t acting in the best interests of the game, but in their own best interests. Let’s just say that baseball has always been a political football, and leave that hanging.

Money talks. So, unfortunately, does A-Rod. David Haugh has some words about that.

New Cub Cole Hamels starts tomorrow night (here he joins Waddle and Silvy [AUDIO]). Last day until the non-waiver trade deadline. As always * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

Cubs News and Notes:

“I totally disagree with that,” Joe Maddon said Sunday night after a reporter relayed Rodriguez’s comments made during the Cubs-Cardinals broadcast. “Everyone knows what’s going on. We know there is an injury there. We support his recovery. Everybody in there knows and everyone in the coaches room knows also, throughout the organization. It’s unfortunate that it was relayed that way, but it’s not true.” — David Haugh.

Ah, yes. Time for the fake Ken Rosenthals to make their annual appearance:

• Tom Verducci (Sports Illustrated*): Jon Lester’s budding case for Cooperstown, Hall of Fame odds for today’s greats and more. “Lester is one of the best under-the-radar Hall of Fame candidates in the game today.”
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com*): Maddon defends Yu Darvish following A-Rod’s remarks. “When you have a guy that signed an enormous contract and is sitting down, and you walk in the training room and he’s got two trainers working on him, you should be in Arizona somewhere getting treated,” Rodriguez said.
• Darren Albert (Larry Brown Sports): Darvish’s agent rips Alex Rodriguez over criticism. “If this story had come from a credible journalist, we might have shown some concern. But it came from A-Rod, so we’re paying it little attention,” said Wolfe, in a quote from Patrick Mooney’s article {$}.
• Brendan Miller (Cubs Insider): Notion that Darvish is ‘mentally soft’ needs to stop. “It’s beyond irresponsible to push such a narrative, whether the platform is local or national.”
• Ryan Davis (NBC Sports Chicago*): Kyle Hendricks is confident that the bad days are behind him. “...over my last four-five starts, definitely my last four starts, it’s felt way better. Mechanically, I feel really good.”
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com*): Cubs looking for boost from returning players. “Getting Kris Bryant, Brandon Morrow, Darvish back from DL would be great ‘acquisitions’.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Two relievers Cubs have “scouted closely”: Blue Jays righty Ryan Tepera, Padres righty Kirby Yates. Bruce Levine started it.
• Jenifer Langosch (MLB.com*): Daniel Poncedeleon, Victor Caratini share special bond. Caratini reached out to congratulate the right-hander. Poncedeleon offered the perfect retort: ”Congrats on making your pitching debut before me.”
• Adam Greene (Knox News {$}): Duncan Robinson hopes to follow Dartmouth star Hendricks to majors. “He (Robinson) is probably the best that we’ve got when it comes to manipulating the baseball,” Smokies manager Mark Johnson said. “He’s advanced. He’s got the tools and uses the whole package.”
• Rob Huff (The Athletic {$}): The good, the bad and the complicated on the Cubs’ farm. “The​ third quarter of the minor league season​ is arguably the​​ most interesting time of the year on the farm.”

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.