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Cub Tracks’ antitrust fund

The latest in our long-running series of #Cubs-related news articles. This one might take some negotiating to get through.

Art Russia Fair in Moscow Photo by Sergei Savostyanov\TASS via Getty Images

Welcome to today’s episode of Cub Tracks news and notes™. Here we have material from current beat writers, bloggers, and the occasional in-house habitué, moonlighting. These pieces center around #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball.

It’s beginning to look as though there’s not going to be baseball. I’ve operated on that assumption since the late season, when it became apparent to me that several teams, the Cubs prominent among them, were simply not planning to field useful teams in 2022.

From where I sit, it looks like ownership is trying to break the union once and for all, and make baseball a right-to-work proposition. The inmates are trying to have more control over the facilities. Their struggle mirrors the national economic struggle in many ways.

Al, on the front page, referenced Ronald Blum (the Associated Press sports stringer) and an article he published Sunday afternoon. I saw that, and had already published my article posted below, and saw little to change my mind.

“... each side thinks the other has not made proposals that will lead toward an agreement replacing the five-year contract that expires at 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 1.”

And that’s the state of things, current as of press time. We are expecting cake to be served. Indeed the case of the 60-game season has yet to be legislated. It’s lawyers all the way down.

But, until that’s confirmed, let’s act as though there will be baseball, though the timing of these releases of information, so close to the World Series, is ominous as hell, and you know the stuff is leaked on purpose.

We just don’t know yet what the purpose is, and as always, we await developments. I don’t think Bruce Meyer is the new Marvin Miller, and this proceeding is important to labor relations in other endeavors, given the relative strength and position of the MLBPA in public life and the potential for precedent in some of these notions and motions. YMMV.

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Today in Cubs history:

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading.