Cub Tracks’ indestructible, man

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 continued fallout from the GM meetings. In the absence of any other stories, we’ll continue with this subplot, as we have no lede to bury. Please to read our electrifying selections below.

If you miss Svengoolie, here’s the feature, without the rubber chickens:

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. In the text body. It doesn’t work in the headlines).

• Ken Rosenthal (The Athletic {$}): MLB offseason cracks open with shortstops galore, tanks and teardowns and, oh yeah, labor stress. “Welcome to an offseason unlike any other...”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Could MLB leverage lockout to mimic other sports’ more exciting free agency periods? “Plus clarification on arb replacement proposal...”
• Russell Dorsey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): With CBA fight looming, Cubs leave GM meetings with updated to-do list. “There probably will be lots of movement in the weeks to come as teams prepare for what likely will be months without any moves.”
• Moshe Wilensky (Cubs Insider*): Owners’ arbitration proposal could incentivize less interesting baseball. “The owners’ proposal would replace the panel with a formula...”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Meet the Mets? Not yet for former Cubs exec McLeod. “Maybe he’s better off?”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs are seeking more velocity from their starting pitching: ‘We’ve had a lot of very similar profiles over the last few years,’ Jed Hoyer says. “It’s an obvious area they will continue to target in the offseason.”
• Jake Misener (Cubbies Crib*): The 2022 Opening Day dream lineup. “This offseason is going to be anything but ordinary...”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation*): The Cubs might want to take a risk on Carlos Rodon, but don’t miss that word ‘risk’. “The flags are red, my friends.”
• Louis Adeo-Weiss (Fish Stripes*): Updating the Willson Contreras trade proposal. “The longtime Cubs’ backstop is one year shy of free agency. Here’s what is may take for the Marlins to acquire him. “

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading.