Cub Tracks hits the lights

“This is it, we’ll hit the heights ... on with the show, this is it.” October surprises, extension overtures, threading the needle and other hits. See below for details.

There’s only so much news to be had right now, in these dog days of the silly season, after the playoffs while the hot stove is seasoned. We know the prevailing narratives and everything has to be woven from that woof and weft while we stew over the results.

We’ll stop there in the interests of minimizing thread drift.

Here’s Cub Tracks 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* {$}): Baseball needs an October surprise to create interest in this pandemic postseason. “The winners will meet next week for the coveted “piece of metal” trophy.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Theo Epstein still trying to ‘Thread the Needle’ for second straight offseason. Sew and sew made a bunch of darn puns and has a point too.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Will Jon Lester return? Is there any chance Yu Darvish or Kyle Hendricks get traded? 5 questions about the Chicago Cubs rotation heading into 2021. “... the first in a series of position-by-position analyses of the Chicago Cubs after the 2020 season.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Adbert Alzolay is the Chicago Cubs 2020 Rookie of the Year. “Out of options at this point, Alzolay is making the 2021 Cubs one way or another.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Brailyn Marquez is being built to be the Cubs’ next great pitching prospect. “... it’s clear the front office continues to be excited about his future.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Olney: Cubs did previously make extension “Overture” toward Kris Bryant “In the range of $200 Million”. “It was a major story at the time ...”
• Cubs birthdays: Rube Waddell HOF, Pickles Dillhoefer, Charlie Silvera, George Frazier, Mike Capel, Damian Miller, Kennie Steenstra. Also notable: Eddie Mathews HOF, Trevor Hoffman HOF.

SimNews:

The simCubs fell to the LA Dodgers 4-3 in a game that wasn’t close until the ninth. Kyle Hendricks pitched well enough but the bats didn’t arrive until late and Julio Urias and a gaggle of Dodger relievers maintained a shutout until Ian Happ propelled a ball into the right-field stands to lead off the ninth. Pinch-hitter Victor Caratini drove in Jason Heyward, who had tripled with one out, for the second run, and Kris Bryant took one deep for the third before Anthony Rizzo made the last out.

Jon Lester and David Price face each other in Game 4 in LA, at 11 a.m. CT. All game video and related material is available commercial-free, 24/7, at the BCB Media Center.

Food for Thought:

That’s all, folks.