Cub Tracks’ Sunday fungoes

Kris Bryant is still a Cub. I don’t know how you feel about it, but I am not displeased. It would be okay to keep him, I submit. At last until the trading deadline looms. Perhaps beyond... let’s not forget that he’s one of the best in the league at his position and probably hasn’t peaked yet. I bet David Ross wouldn’t mind penciling him in at third every day in 2020.

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.

h/t to Tim Huwe for the above.

• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): One potential Bryant trading partner seems unlikely. “A trade has never been a foregone conclusion, as the Cubs aren’t going to move the star third baseman for anything less than what they deem to be fair value.” Even Josh Donaldson has a price, adds Evan Altman. Brett Taylor holds down the corner.
• Todd Johnson (Cubs Insider*): Cubs organizational breakdown, Pt. 9 — Plenty of righty relievers ready to make an impact. “... not just junk-ballers, but some guys who can really run it up there with elite velocity.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): ‘Dad, we did it!’ How Chicago’s Mike Rizzo took the family business National and won it all. “How he got the chance — and how he helped make it happen — is a Chicago story generations in the making.”
• Cubs birthdays: Bob Caruthers, Bill Dahlen, Zaza Harvey, Chuck Wortman, Riggs Stephenson, Daryl Robertson, Bob Dernier, Henry Cotto, Danny Jackson, Jeff Fassero, Chris Nabholz, Ramon Tatis, Ruben Quevedo.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.