Cub Tracks’ trade winds blow

Here at CUB TRACKS NEWS AND NOTES™, we have news for you. Maybe not trade news but some loose talk, certainly. Player agents, teams, and players are busy whispering into ears and planting seeds. The Sheriff is out of town already — how many of these sprouts will be killed before they grow? How many will become beanstalks? None of us really know jack.

Time will tell. The future, you know, is uncertain, and Bob Z. says the end is always near.

All this, and the Cubs played the Reds, too. Joey Votto’d, fifth game in a row. Stop him, please. Cubs barreled some atom balls early and ran up Mahle’s pitch count, but the key hits weren’t coming, not that JHey and Davies didn’t try. And KB played short, but the lead seemed insurmountable when Votto hit the dinger. Sad but true.

Al likely watched the game and will recap. I had it on but it was just background noise for guitar practice.

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• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Keegan Thompson, Justin Steele starting at Iowa; Javy sits. “Steele and Thompson have shown they can hold their own in the Majors, but their future home might very well be in Chicago’s rotation.”
• Bryan Smith (Bleacher Nation*): Steele talks about sliding back – with his new slider – into a starting pitcher role. “When I started honing in on the slider it started opening doors for me, particularly with sequencing and working of my other pitches,” Steele said from Des Moines on Monday.
• Maddie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): What Cubs stretching out Thompson could mean for rotation. “... the Cubs could benefit from giving a pair of promising young pitchers major-league rotation experience in a transition year.” Russell Dorsey thinks so, too.
• Jayson Stark (The Athletic {$}): MLB execs explain life on the buy/sell trade deadline tightrope — ‘It’s the toughest spot to be in’. “... the sleep-deprivationist, nerve-wrackingest, text/call-overloadingest time of the year.”
• Jesse Rogers (ESPN*): MLB trade deadline - Where things stand for the four Chicago Cubs stars who could be dealt this week. “... Jed Hoyer is very popular right now.”
• Chris Cotillo (MassLive*): Red Sox trade rumors: Boston has had preliminary talks with Cubs about Anthony Rizzo deal (report). Jeff Passan started something.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Boston market? Rizzo keeps faith he’ll remain a Cub. “It’s a rumor. We’ll see,” said Rizzo.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Trade rumors surrounding Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo have Cubs in unfamiliar position: ‘It’s created adversity’. “I definitely cannot wait for Friday,” David Ross said.
• Jenna Lemoncelli (NY Post*): Cubs’ Javier Baez has sights set on Mets ahead of MLB trade deadline. “If I go to free agency, I’d like to play with Francisco Lindor,” Baez said Tuesday during an interview with Mega 106.9 FM. Tim Stebbins has more.
• Anthony Franco (MLB Trade Rumors*): Cubs, Giants have reportedly discussed Kris Bryant trade. More about that. Evan Altman has a few new wrinkles.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Bryant on final, stolen year: ‘not easiest pill to swallow’. “Whatever happens, happens. I’m ready for that,” he said Tuesday. Meghan Montemurro addresses Bryant’s uncertain future. Patrick Mooney has some positive aspects {$}.
• Bryan Smith (Bleacher Nation*): Scouting the new Cubs prospects from the Andrew Chafin trade: Greg Deichmann and Daniel Palencia. “... it’s good to read up on them as best we can.”

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading.