Cub Tracks remembers it well

All across the country and even up in the Great White North, the pilot lights are being lit as the Hot Stove season looms. But, before they get news players, the Cubs need new coaches. Yea, this, that, and the other things are on our minds as we reverently observe the third anniversary of the Blessed Event that may have ushered in the apocalypse, according to would-be wags and other members of the punditry.

Al will have more on that at 9 a.m. CT today.

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*): ‘Real change’ coming for Cubs this offseason. “We’re not blowing anything up, per se. That’s not the goal, but we’re likely to see real change, real adjustments at various levels, most levels, of our baseball operation in some form or another,” said Theo Epstein.
• Kelly Crull, Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Tim Buss’ departure to Angels represents culture change Cubs have long foreshadowed. “Buss will join Joe Maddon’s staff with the Angels as a quality assurance coach.” Maddon didn’t want to be back, either, say Scot Gregor and Tim Stebbins. Brian Butterfield is gone, too. Buss was the life of the party, says Paul Sullivan.
• Jesse Rogers (ESPN*): Can David Ross fix the Chicago Cubs in his first year as manager? “It’s the early days of a Cubs offseason bound to make headlines...” Sahadev Sarma {$} wants to see if he can keep the clubhouse together.
• Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): Yu Darvish not opting out, per report. “... it looks like he’s going to be pitching on the North Side for the next few years.”
• Phil Rogers (Forbes*): Chicago Cubs Off-Season Preview: It’s becoming time to pick between Kris Bryant and Javier Baez.
• (Cubs Insider*): Nicholas Castellanos listed as priority for Cubs, ‘Mutual Interest’ in return engagement. “... this still has the feel of something that isn’t going to happen.”
• Greg Huss (Cubs Insider*): These 4 prospects could have big impact in Chicago next season. “Two of the possibilities we’ll discuss below are already well known to Cubs fans, but another pair might still be under the radar.”
• Dan Caesar (St Louis Post-Dispatch*): How Maddon’s breakup with Cubs probably saved a life at Busch Stadium. “I would have been dead if Maddon wasn’t going to get fired,” Mike Flanary flatly says.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): The Ex-Cub Factor correctly predicted the Astros’ World Series demise. “... any team with three or more ex-Cubs on its roster is fated to lose the World Series.”
• Cubs birthdays: Otto Williams, Clem Clemens, Dutch Zwilling, Johnny Vander Meer, Jesse Flores, Bill Connors, Orlando Merced. Also notable: Travis Jackson (HoF).

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.