Cub Tracks invokes the sanity clause

Happy Holidaze! I hope none of you were burning baseball bats in the fire pit on the solstice. Louisville Sluggers have developed a collector’s market by now, I imagine. But I sure do understand the impulse. The Manfredding of baseball marches on, an erosive and clearly baseball-hating avalanche of unreason, and we can do naught to resist unless we all join our wallets in a lucre centipede and let them attach the hoovers.

Maybe not even then. It doesn’t occur to them that the best way to ‘fix baseball’ is to put the best players on the field and get the eitch-e-double-toothpicks out of their way.

I don’t mean to be a Grinch but Manfred is a bumble. There’s just no two ways about it. Pass me the pliers, please. Dahoo dahoo.

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.)

• Steve Adams (MLB Trade Rumors*): Cubs, Matt Dermody agree to minor league deal. “... the Cubs’ only left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster are Kyle Ryan and Brad Wieck...”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Cubs reportedly sign reliever Joe Biagini to a minor league deal. “according to Arizona Phil.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Cubs’ Craig Breslow discusses front-office role, pitching development philosophy. “... the hope is that the Cubs have only begun scratching the surface with their pitching development.”
• Brendan Miller (Cubs Insider*): High fastballs killed Javy Báez’s 2020 performance. “Javy’s real problem was the inability to eat high heat.”
• Maddie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): Scott Boras: Trading players like Kris Bryant is ‘complex’. “... a lot of this depends on factors that would have to play out over time.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Ian Happ is very savvy. “... what Happ presents is a really sophisticated understanding of what plays and what doesn’t play in the court of public opinion.”
• Andy Martinez, Lee Bosch (Marquee Sports Network*): Winter League Wednesday: Miguel Amaya continues success; Duane Underwood Jr. debuts and Abiatal Avelino shines in Dominican Republic. Fun things for the future.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): The state of the farm system as Cubs look toward 2021 and beyond. “We’re evolving,” Matt Dorey said this week.
• Steve Millar (Chicago Tribune* {$}): A domino effect’: MLB’s reorganization of minor leagues initiates new era for Kane County Cougars, Frontier League and American Association. “When minor league baseball returns, it will come back with a whole new look.”
• David Roeder (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Silver Shovel to silver sluggers? Cubs eye scandal-tied site for youth complex. “The team plans to submit a proposal this week for property at Roosevelt Road and Kostner Avenue, formerly the site of an illegal dump.”
• Jay Jaffe (Fangraphs*): JAWS and the 2021 Hall of Fame Ballot: Sammy Sosa. “... the superficial statistics suggest Sosa is a Hall of Famer...”

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading! And a pleasant nondenominational holiday to you.