Cub Tracks’ that coyote’s after you

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.

We still have plenty of news coming in. Some of it is news news in the same sense that Ralph Kramden did work work, but most of it is genuine development. A few of the beats seem to be hibernating, but the bloggers are on the job.

Here at Cub Tracks, we are working hard on bringing you every detail as Major League Baseball continues to stare into the abyss that is the CBA, and the MLBPA stares right back and even seems to be thumbing their collective noses by offering genuine proposals instead of empty posturing.

Imagine!

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). #IStandWithThePlayers.

• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation*): How the players have suggested tweaking the draft to improve competitive integrity. “... some teams are content NOT to contend for multiple years...”
• Jayson Stark (The Athletic {$}): Tanks But No Tanks: How to solve MLB’s tanking problem? Reverse the draft order. “It would work.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs union rep on MLB tack: ‘Horrible way to negotiate’. “I think it’s important to clarify some of the mixed messages out there,” Ian Happ said.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Cubs notes: The search for power pitching, improving the infield defense and analyzing Yan Gomes’ value. “... don’t expect a big splash in the free-agent pitching market...”
• Mark Powell (Fansided*): Marcus Stroman defends Cubs, makes sad Yankee fan eat it on Twitter. “He’s not afraid to speak his mind...”
• Todd Johnson (North Side Bound*): North Side Bound’s position rankings: A young catching corps has a chance to break out in 2022. “The Cubs have plenty of catchers.”
• Alexander Patt (Cubbies Crib*): Comparing Nick Madrigal to former Cubs infielder Ryan Theriot. “Two guys who spray the ball around the yard with little pop and can run the bases.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): The Cubs need a stellar defensive shortstop – But what are the options on the market? “... what are the other elite defensive options available to the Cubs?”
• Thomas Erbe (Fansided*): Cubs should take advantage of Cardinals’ Trevor Story whiff. “If St. Louis sees their future at shortstop in house with Paul DeJong and young budding star Edmundo Sosa, that opens the door for the Cubs to take a look at Story as an option for their vacancy.”
• Kristy Ackert (NY Daily News via Chicago Tribune* {$}): Former Yankees CC Sabathia, Jeff Nelson among those tired of Clint Frazier: ‘If I see another story I’m gonna punch somebody in the f—king face’. “Frazier showed up for spring training in 2017 with long-ish hair, which annoyed the front office and some in the clubhouse.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Longtime Cubs exec McLeod takes job with D-Backs. “He has aspirations to become a general manager...”

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading.