Cub Tracks sees red, white, and blue

Can nobody end the red menace? Dammit! Crybaby Molina and Salsa Boy don’t deserve any more airtime, let alone another playoff series. Can’t they retire already? I found myself hate-watching the Dodgers and the Nationals in some sorta cockeyed hope for red deadbird redemption... Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto got me out of my chair for a minute, much to the surprise of my 14-week-old kitten Moe, who slapped me.

Some days you just can’t win. Hey, Moe has that name for reasons. He slaps the heck out of people on the TV.

Late comebacks rule, Howie Kendrick. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the manager prospect roundup is still ongoing and is likely to continue for a bit.

Here’s today’s Cubs News and Notes. As always, * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used here as sarcasm font.

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Inbox: What qualities do Cubs seek in manager? “Epstein said the entire organization needs an improved “sense that sloppy mistakes, mental mistakes aren’t tolerated.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Joe Girardi ‘happy’ with how eight-hour interview for Cubs manager job went Wednesday. “Will Venable interviewed Monday... David Ross is scheduled to interview Thursday, and a source said Yankees special assistant Carlos Beltran also is on a candidate list that includes Astros bench coach Joe Espada.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Cubs projected for $22M in arb raises, almost $210M in total payroll heading into winter. “... we can do a little quick math to figure out how much room they’ll have for offseason moves.” Brett Taylor also discuses this.
• Chris Emma (670 The Score): To build anew, Cubs need to follow blueprints. “The reality is we’re building something anew,” Epstein said.
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): What to make of Jon Lester’s 2019 struggles and how he should be viewed in 2020. “Pretty much across the board, Lester’s “stuff” has declined, but that’s to be expected with an aging pitcher with that much mileage on his arm.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Willson Contreras did a better job framing pitches in September, but can that carry over to 2020? “... the only thing that stops him from being the best catcher in the game is health.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Will Ben Zobrist or Addison Russell be back? 5 questions about Cubs second basemen heading into 2020. “The Cubs had seven players appear in at least 13 games at second base.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): So, free agent center fielder Shogo Akiyama might be a perfect fit for the Cubs. “Yeah, this is extremely interesting.”
• Sarah Zimmerman (Crain’s Chicago Business*): Cubs fan sues the team over ivy trinket. Daniel Fox “says his favorite team stole his idea for a souvenir featuring ballpark ivy encased in plexiglass.” Sam Charles has more.
• Dan Santaromita (NBC Sports Chicago*): Joe Maddon is gone, but his Wrigleyville restaurant is staying. “It’s business as usual and the restaurant and bar will continue to be all that Joe and Chef Tony Mantuano envisioned.” Paul Sullivan doubles up on this.
• Cubs birthdays: Mike Corcoran, Charlie Sprague, Ad Gumbert, Bill Moran, Bill Killefer, Mickey Kreitner, Bobby Tiefenauer, Roger Metzger, Rob Sperring, Ramon Martinez, Adrian Cardenas,

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.