Cub Tracks stirs up ghosts

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.

There’s some thing called the World Series going around, and because of that, there’s very little Cubs news. But we’ll take a trip on the blue train anyway.

As usual, * 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. In the text body. It doesn’t work in the headlines.)

• Jake Misener (Cubbies Crib*): Chicago Cubs hoping new ideas, fresh takes reinvigorate the front office. “Hoyer and his new-look front office are going to have to hit on some high-impact moves this offseason.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Matt Duffy, Zach Davies among 6 Cubs Free Agents in 2021. “In any case, the Cubs have their share of players set to hit the open market this winter...”
• Thomas Erbe (Cubbies Crib*): Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves looked very similar … until they didn’t. “The Atlanta Braves chose to be buyers and make key additions to go for it, and they are now in the World Series.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Plugging holes: Leaky Cubs roster needs more than pitching. “The Cubs need to add at least one big league outfielder this winter.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Promising AFL performances by pitching prospects Ryan Jensen, Caleb Kilian underscore Cubs’ evolving development philosophy. “While these impressive individual performances are really too small to be taken too seriously in and of themselves, they are examples of how the Cubs are evolving...”
• Bryan Smith (Bleacher Nation*): The 2021 BN Cubs all-system prospect team. “This year’s minor league season felt more like an endurance contest than a baseball season, with the sheer number of injuries always at a completely staggering volume.”
• Jeff Agrest (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Jon Sciambi reflects on first season as Cubs’ TV voice on Marquee Sports Network. “For his part, Sciambi feels he can be better.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Why Dusty Baker belongs in Hall regardless of World Series. “Like I tell these guys, you don’t have anything to prove or show anybody,” Baker said.
• James Best (NBC Sports Chicago*): PETA urges MLB to change ‘bullpen’ term over insensitivity to cows. “arm barn.”

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading.