Cub Tracks finds new wrinkles

I am iron, man, and boy am I steamed. Ba dum tss!

But seriously, folks... each free agent signing kinks the prevailing narrative in so many directions that Ray Davies would have trouble keeping track. Our favorite scribes, scriveners, soothsayers, and pundits try to smooth out the most protuberant perturbations before they proliferate and further pollute the collective semiconscious.

The zeitgeist is bound to be stuffed with gobbledygook. I love that tenderly, but then I am a fruitcake: Humble, lovable, and full of edibles. There’s no need to fear — The Cubs are underdogs again. Happy turkey week.

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*): Rachel Folden turns dream into reality with Cubs. “Physics are physics,” she said with a laugh. “You can’t argue with data and you can’t argue with science. I think, hopefully, with these two hires, we can put that argument to rest.” More from Mark Gonzales.
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs free agent focus: Stephen Strasburg. “Would the Cubs be willing to go deep into the luxury tax to sign Strasburg?” Gerrit Cole from yesterday.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): New Cubs righty Jharel Cotton leaves you plenty to dream on, but also a reality to discuss. “... the chances are extremely remote that it actually all works out for the best.” He’s from Newport News, and the local paper covered his signing.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Scouts lukewarm on LHP Kwang-Hyun Kim, potential Cubs target who ‘could be starter on middling team’. “... he’s showed improved walk numbers the last several seasons and possesses a wicked slider that makes up for his otherwise meh stuff.”
• Matthew LaMar (Royals Review): Fine, let’s take a look at what a Whit Merrifield trade to the Cubs would look like. “He is a 3-win player making barely over the league minimum salary and is old enough that the cost of acquisition would be high yet doable.” Yep, more of this.
• Brendan Miller (Cubs Insider*): Kyle Schwarber’s second half showed potential to become MLB’s best offensive LF. “... his improved production and relatively low cost might mean he’s a vital piece for a team that needs to compete without spending tons more money to do it.”
• Dennis Rodkin (Crain’s Chicago Business): Cubs marketing chief pays $2.25 million for Wilmette house. “Colin Faulkner and his wife, Jaime, who heads a subsidiary of the Levy restaurant company, also have their previous house in the same town on the market.”
• Cubs birthdays: Jim Canavan, Hugh Duffy (HoF), John Churry, Larry Gura, Richie Hebner, Jay Howell, Ron Meridith, Matt Garza. Also notable: Lefty Gomez (HoF).

Today in Cubs History:

• 1948 - National League president Ford Frick steps in and pays $350 for funeral services, including the cost of a coffin, for the unclaimed body of Hack Wilson. The former slugger, who had died probably of alcohol abuse a few days earlier in a Baltimore hospital, is identified only as a white male.
• 2007 - The Cubs re-sign 30-year-old free agent Kerry Wood to a one-year, $4.2 million deal which includes additional incentives for closing games.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.