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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.

Jed Hoyer was on the radio Wednesday, and had a few things to say. Brett Taylor was kind enough to collect some of his quotes, and those are below. Nothing really new — Hoyer reiterated his talking points. “There’s no value in expecting a lockout...” he said, notably.

It’s the news of the day, such as it is. There’s not a hell of a lot going on, on the surface. Eventually we’ll run into some icebergs.

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).

• Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Cubs mailbag, Part 1: Free agents, pitching plans, Anthony Rizzo’s options, more. “Where does that leave the team that wants to spend money in a “thoughtful” and “intelligent” way while being “nimble” and “opportunistic?””
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Hoyer Speaks: Making the tournament, needing different Types of pitchers, lockout talk, more. Evan Altman has a few more words. “... it’s getting awfully hard to find a way to look at the very consistent messaging as being anything but earnest,” he wrote. Tim Stebbins has more.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Moskos is next step in Cubs’ ‘reimagining’. “Hoyer has emphasized the need to have seamless collaboration up and down the organizational chain in terms of communication.” Tim Stebbins elaborates.
• Ryan O’Rourke (Cubbies Crib*): Chicago Cubs can’t afford to wait for a new CBA to make their moves. “... signings make it clear that the CBA isn’t completely dissuading teams from making moves.”
• Duane Pesice (Cubbies Crib*): Can the Chicago Cubs ride gravy train with Corey Seager, Kyle Seager? “Corey Seager would fill many holes simultaneously...”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Why Michael Kopech could be comp for Brailyn Márquez in 2022. “Pitching weapon, so to speak,” said team president Jed Hoyer in October of Márquez, a consensus top-5 Cubs prospect. Jake Misener adds on.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): I am a prospect nerd, so I got hyped seeing that Pete Crow-Armstrong is swinging the bat again. “... this indicates a good trajectory for Crow-Armstrong to be ready for a normal Spring Training...”

Today in Cubs history:

• 1914 - The Chicago Cubs name future Hall of Famer Roger Bresnahan as their manager. The former St. Louis Cardinals skipper will be in the dugout for just one year during which Chicago will finish fourth with a 73-80 record.
• 1951 - Former Chicago Cubs first baseman and future star of the TV series The Rifleman Chuck Connors becomes the first player to refuse to participate in the major league draft. Currently the 1B for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, Connors wants to stay in California, instead of going to whatever team might draft him for the major leagues. The PCL views his refusal in a positive manner, allowing them to ask for higher prices for minor league players than what the major leagues usually offers.
• 1987 - Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson becomes the first player from a last-place club ever to win an Most Valuable Player Award, taking National League honors with a .287 batting average and as the league leader in home runs (49) and RBI (137).
• 2011 - Major League Baseball owners and the Players Association reach a tentative deal on a new five-year collective bargaining agreement. The agreement signed in Rosemont, IL near Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, includes a ceiling for bonuses paid to picks in the amateur draft and international free agents. It also provides for testing for human growth hormone and a raise in the minimum salary to $480,000. The agreement will be finalized on November 22.
• 2015 - In the Cy Young Award vote, Jake Arrieta of the Cubs is the winner in the National League.

Cubs birthdays: Frank Griffith, Les Mann, Gene Mauch, Cal Koonce, Sterling Slaughter, Steve Henderson, Dan Briggs, Jamie Moyer, Ron Coomer, Tom Gordon, Shawn Camp.

Food for Thought:

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