Cub Tracks’ out to launch

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.

Don’t know about you, but I’m prepared to watch a bunch of minor league ball if it be necessary, in order to get my baseball fix. Where I am, we get a lot of winter ball telecasts, too, and that helps. Sergio Alcántara is tearing up the Dominican Winter League, slashing .290/.419/.420. You can see his Friday walkoff home run below.

Alcántara is going to be challenged to make the roster, and he’s out of options. He’s going to need that bat. I’m sure he could make someone’s minor league team, but there’s no equal to the Major League game... if only Rob Manfred would stop trying to kill it. Oh I know he’s not solely responsible, but he’s the figurehead by his own design and therefore he can deal with the blame. Surely some of you feel the same way.

In the event that there is Major League Baseball, ESPN’s ‘Sunday night strategy’ will have a distinctly Cub flavor as Doug Glanville will be joining Jon Sciambi in the radio booth.

“It HAS to be better than an A-RodCast. So cringe,” the collective they interject. “ESPN proves how JLo one can go. But there’s more! Wait ‘til you read about Sinclair’s new thing. I’m going to have a vowel movement any time now. Can I buy a letter, Vanna?”

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.

• Evan Drellich (The Athletic {$}): MLB negotiations likely to restart soon, but NBA history shows real movement waits. “... real movement might not come until more is at stake than simply an on-time start to spring training.”
• Bill Chuck (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Baseball quiz: How are you managing? “Good luck with this week’s quiz about managers.”
• Jake Misener (Cubbies Crib*): If the Cubs want to keep Willson Contreras, they’ll have to get uncomfortable. “Contreras’ stock has dipped a bit in the last two years, but he’s still a top 10 backstop in the game in most rankings.”
• Braxton Piatt (Cubbies Crib*): Chicago Cubs: Catching looks like a long-term question mark. “Signing veteran Yan Gomes is a good temporary answer in the short-term, but long-term, there is a lot to be desired in terms of stability.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): The latest Cubs Top Ten Prospect List is out, and a nice opportunity to discuss some guys who didn’t make it. “... the offseason has proceeded normally with respect to minor leaguers, and Spring Training figures to do the same.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs ‘not shocked’ by DJ Herz’s ‘21 breakout. “Across 20 starts between Low-A Myrtle Beach and High-A South Bend last year, Herz racked up 131 strikeouts against 44 walks with a 3.31 ERA in 81 2/3 innings.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Sinclair primed to launch direct-to-consumer sports streaming app, MLB participation still minimal. “... eliminating those pesky subscriber authentications for folks who don’t have access to regional sports networks.” Awful Announcing has more. They got it from Bloomberg {$}.

Cubs birthdays: Joe Wallis, Ivan de Jesus.

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading. Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the opinions of writers whose work is linked in this series of articles. We try to present a balanced view, and let the facts speak for themselves.

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