Cub Tracks serves turkeys

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.

The Cubs are going to be buying from the scrap heap, it looks like. Players worth having are disappearing rapidly. The Cardinals have rolled out the welcome Matz, thereby foiling part of my projected roster, and it’s beginning to look like the only Cooperstown most of the lineup will be visiting has foot-long weiners on the menu and a Hall-of-Fame lefty on the management team. Lamentable!

What a drag it is, these gold lame jeans.

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 {$}): As Major League Baseball talks about diversity, the Cubs have to put words into more action. “... these issues certainly aren’t limited to the Cubs, MLB or professional sports.”
• Matt Snyder (CBS Sports*): Cubs offseason wish list: Chicago has several roster holes, but rotation is most glaring need this winter. “Before everything else, the Cubs need to address the rotation, but after that a big bat or two couldn’t hurt...”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): That talk about Brailyn Marquez being a “Pitching Weapon” for the Cubs in 2022? It’s not just smoke. “2022 is going to be a pretty critical year for Cubs pitching prospect Marquez...”
• (Cubs Insider*): Even in hot market, Cubs could bolster rotation without changing ‘Intelligent Spending’ narrative. “... it would be very smart to get involved in the pitching market before December 1 comes and nearly everyone is snapped up.”
• Michael Brakebill (Cubbies Crib*): 3 viable free agent starting pitchers to target. “... there are several mid-tier hurlers that would significantly benefit the club moving forward.”
• Ryan O’Rourke (Cubbies Crib*): Chicago Cubs shouldn’t even consider biting on a John Means trade. “They can’t afford to give up too much future talent if the return isn’t absolutely worth it both at face value and in the numbers beyond.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Semien, Báez are SS fits if Cubs go big-name hunting. “... what are their chances of coming away with one of the trophies?”
• Bill Ladson (MLB.com*): Thanksgiving memories special to Jenkins. “The fun part was that Ferguson Sr. was a chef and, man, could he burn.”
• Lee Bosch (Marquee Sports Network*): Cubs prospect Nelson Velázquez hopes to carry offensive exploits in Puerto Rico. “Criollos look to repeat as champions of the Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente.”
• Jonathan Mayo (MLB.com*): Here are the Top 25 AFL prospects for 2021. “Finding a balance between prospects and performance is truly an inexact science.”

Today in Cubs and MLB history:

• 1941 - With only three years of major league experience, shortstop Lou Boudreau is named as the Cleveland Indians’ manager. He takes over for Roger Peckinpaugh, who moves up to the front office as the Indians’ general manager. At the age of 24 years, four months, and eight days, Boudreau becomes the youngest skipper to pilot a team in the 20th century. Scotland-born Jim McCormick managed Cleveland in 1879 at age 23.
• 1944 - Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first Major League Baseball Commissioner, dies of a heart attack at age 78 in Chicago. Landis had ruled over baseball since November 1920 in the wake of the Black Sox scandal, and wielded authority perhaps unparalleled in any other industry. Landis had entered the hospital on October 2nd. He will elected to the Hall of Fame on December 9th in a special ballot.
• 1958 - The Baseball Writers Association of America names Chicago Cubs slugger Ernie Banks as the National League Most Valuable Player. Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants is the runner-up.
• 2003 - The Chicago Cubs trade first baseman Hee Seop Choi (who hit .210 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI) and Mike Nannini to the World Champion Florida Marlins in exchange for Gold Glove first baseman Derrek Lee (.271, 31, 92).

Cubs birthdays: Frank Corridon, Bert Cunningham, Jakie May, John Pyecha, Joe Vernon, Randy Veres, Ben Wade, Jim Weaver, Chico Walker. Also notable: Joe DiMaggio HOF.

Food for Thought:

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