Cub Tracks gets carried away

Oh I turned over a new rock. Yeahhhhh. Let’s don’t forget sensational rookies Oye Como Va and Vaya Con Dios when you’re making out your fantasy roster. It’s that time of year folks, when, as we’ve gotten used to, the Cubs created buzz by doing absolutely nothing while being talked about in every context, but nothing was written in stone.

Oh I need to take some of those tablets. Not the red or blue ones, you understand. Walter Waldowski would understand. So would Johnny Mandel’s teenage son. Cuz the suspense in waiting for the next move is killing me.

Softly. Slowly. Hold me closer, Tony Danza. This is the sound, not of my soul, but of my fandom. Wrigley Field might as well be a tree museum, under late-stage capitalism.

Oh darlin’. Please believe me.

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 on this page as sarcasm font. (In the comments section, use @ before and after your remarks @ to produce sarcasm font.)

• Todd Johnson (Cubs Central): Jed Hoyer’s media blitz during winter meetings much ado about nothing. “The best part of our farm system right now is at the lower levels, where the talent is emerging, and at the big leagues, where they’re all wearing rings.”
• Russell Dorsey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Three areas the Cubs still need to improve after the winter meetings. “The Cubs won’t be playing in the deep end of the pool financially this winter, but there are a few bargain players on the market who could help them improve in 2021.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Every Rule 5 Draft pick in Cubs history. “The Cubs have unearthed All-Stars and Gold Glove winners in the Rule 5 process, and one Hall of Famer in Hack Wilson.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Awful performance against lefties could influence Cubs’ offseason moves. “The Cubs were so bad against lefties this past season, they made other bad teams look not bad.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Looking at the Cubs’ outfield picture without Kyle Schwarber. “Cubs legend” also isn’t the same thing as “the most cost-efficient option among the Ivy computer projections in the middle of a pandemic.”
• Abel Uribe (Chicago Tribune* {$}): The Players Alliance distributes essential goods in Chicago. Mark Gonzales writes about the Alliance. “We just want to continue to spread positive vibes, showing people that is possible to do it with baseball,” Jason Heyward said. Andy Martinez writes it up.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading. Go back to sleep.