Cub Tracks heads west

The simCubs prevailed in the rubber game of the series and have been rewarded with a quick trip to San Diego for a four-game set before heading east. Jon Lester was merely fabulous, throwing eight shutout innings before giving way to Ryan Tepera, who applied the coup de grace.

Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber homered for the home team. Lester won Player of the Game honors, and, after the postgame activities, the players were apprised of the trades that had taken place earlier, about which Al will have more in the game post (at 2:30 p.m. CT, for our 3 p.m. start). There was a big trade and a smaller one. The small trade was outfielder Mark Zagunis to the Royals for outfielder Brett Phillips, who hadn’t been playing much for the Storm Chasers (as the Royals are loaded with lefties), and needed a change. Zagunis had been in Double-A Tennessee, and this will give him at least the opportunity to play at Triple A Omaha. Phillips and his awesome throwing arm will platoon in right field for the 27-6 I-Cubs.

I’ll drop the specific URL to the contest in the game thread, but you can lurk at the BCB Media Center and catch it there as well. All past games and highlights reels are available there too, if you want the full #simCubs experience.

And now, here’s Cub Tracks News and Notes, the only links column that really matters. 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.

“I want to address something that I said yesterday, regarding baseball and baseball players. I want to apologize for leaving the impression that baseball players shouldn’t have the right to bargain, to protect their health and safety. I absolutely support that right. I should have made that more clear.” — ILL. Gov. JB Pritzker

• Sheryl Ring (Beyond the Box Score): The five-round draft is the MLBPA’s latest failure. “The union continues to sacrifice its future for an ever-shrinking present ...”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Now is the time for Major League Baseball teams to justify the love we give to them. “... I fear that most of those cost-saving measures will involve deep layoffs of so many people who make baseball work.”
• Vinnie Duber (NBC Sports Chicago*): How state and local governments could throw a wrench in MLB’s scheduling plan. “Being allowed to play and it being a good idea, from a public-health standpoint, to do so are two different things.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): MLB and players 2020 season showdown comes from mistrust built in recent years. “So what is the equitable division of financial risk?”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs’ Ian Happ: MLB players ‘have already agreed to a pay cut’ for 2020 season. “We’re taking pay as the number of games that we play this year,” he said.
• Daryl van Schouwen (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): White Sox, Cubs fans won’t have much tolerance for baseball labor strife. “The last thing baseball’s image needs is a squabble between the two sides, but that’s what we’re probably going to get.”
• Maggie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): Lessons MLB could take from a Cubs writer’s cross country move to Chicago. “The goal becomes limiting risk because at this point; there’s no clear way to eliminate it.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Who are Cubs’ best options at DH after Kyle Schwarber? Victor Caratini and Ian Happ.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs’ Top 5 right fielders: Bastian’s take. Sammy Sosa all day.
• Keith Law (The Athletic {$}): Keith Law’s 2020 MLB mock draft: First-round projection 1.0. “16. Chicago Cubs: Tanner Burns, RHP, Auburn.”
• Cubs birthdays: Wimpy Quinn, Dick Tidrow, Dave LaRoche, Efren Navarro. Also notable: Ed Walsh HOF, Earle Combs HOF, Tony Perez HOF, Roy Halladay HOF.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading! Please — drive home safely!