Cub Tracks’ the torture never stops

This winter just gets sillier and sillier. Just because the Cubs are willing to part with a player or two doesn’t mean that they’re suddenly open to dealing off the whole core corps. Or does it? I thought maybe we had had enough of that kind of irresponsible speculation, but perhaps not, as it keeps on coming.

So Kyle Schwarber is going to be a Yankee, Kris Bryant goes to hang with Bryce Harper and feel the brotherly love and maybe answer some clown questions. Please no Jean Segura though — maybe in 2010 but not 2020. That’s a serious lack of vision.

Willson Contreras might be taking his hand jive to Flushing, says the same scalawag that had Bryant heading east.

Strikes against fan apathy, I suppose. Wide of the mark but the closest we can get for now, until the Cubs sign someone of use to the 26-man roster. IF they sign someone useful to the 26-man roster...

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.

• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Seams? Launch angle? Mudding? After a record number of home runs, what kind of baseball will we see in 2020? “... there are things we really do not yet understand about the contributing factors.”
• Sean Facey (12UP): Indians and Cubs should be embarrassed for attempting teardowns three years after World Series. “The two teams have struggled to match their success from 2016 over the past few years...”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs 2020 answers on hold as they try to solve ‘a different puzzle’ this winter. “The only thing more tortured than the metaphor is the waiting game.”
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): What does accountability look like to David Ross? “Ross is aiming to bring more structure to the group, and that’s exactly what his bosses are asking of him.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): FA market allows Cubs to monitor trades at WM. “It feels to me like there’s going to be continued action in free agency in the days to come,” Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said.
• Danny Abriano (SNY*): Yankees have talked Schwarber trade with Cubs. Based on Ken Rosenthal piece for The Athletic {$}. Tony Andracki addresses this foul ball also.
• Joe Giglio (NJ.com*): MLB rumors: Imagining a Phillies-Cubs Bryant trade blockbuster. Imagine Willie and the Mets. Better check twice — there’s no sanity clause. Brett Taylor has some pushback on Bryant’s trade value. Mark Gonzales is on second. Ben Bailey says the mat doesn’t add up.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Can the Cubs finally ‘fix’ Albert Almora Jr.’s swing before his time is up in Chicago? “Once seen as a center-field mainstay for the Cubs, Almora’s star has faded.”
• Cubs birthdays: Bill Hutchison, Marvell Wynne, David Kelton, Juan Mateo.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.