BCB After Dark: Is Carlos Correa coming to Chicago?

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BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I asked you if the Cubs would break their mark for their biggest contract in this winter’s free agent market. It seems a lot of you think the Cubs are coming to spend this winter, as 52 percent of you said that someone will get more than Jason Heyward’s $184 million. Sixteen percent thought that someone would get less than that but more than Jon Lester’s $155 million and 8 percent only thought the Cubs would top Alfonso Soriano’s $136 million. Only 26 percent of you thought that the Cubs would hold any free agent signings to the lower nine digits and not even top Soriano’s mark.

Could that someone be Carlos Correa?

On Tuesday night/Wednesday mornings, I don’t do a full movie essay. And I’m still not sure what I’m going to write about tomorrow night. But I always have time for jazz so those of you who skip that can do so now. You won’t hurt my feelings.

I did manage to watch the PBS documentary Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes since last night. It is certainly well-worth watching. I said some things about it in yesterday’s comment section.

But since I put up a video of Carter last night, I thought I’d go in a different direction tonight. I had on some jazz Christmas music on earlier today (hey, we’re getting to that time of year) and I heard the Modern Jazz Quartet’s “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” which is an all-time classic.

I’m not going to inflict that on you tonight, although there’s probably a good chance that you will hear it in some edition between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. But the song did make me remember how much I love Milt Jackson’s vibes, so I thought I’d feature some MJQ tonight anyway.

So this is an Modern Jazz Quartet performance from Germany in 1988. In case you’ve forgotten, the MJQ is John Lewis on piano, Percy Heath on bass, Connie Kay on drums and of course, Milt Jackson on vibraphone.

Welcome back to those who skip all that jazz.

As you can tell from tonight’s photo, tonight’s Cubs question concerns Carlos Correa. Would you rather the Cubs sign ten duck-sized Carlos Correas or one Carlos Correa-sized duck?

Obviously, that’s not a serious question. There wouldn’t be room on the roster for ten duck-sized Carlos Correas. No, tonight’s question is simply “Will the Cubs sign Carlos Correa?”

It’s no secret that the Cubs have been linked to every shortstop on the market. Here’s a few thoughts from MLB Network’s Jon Paul Morosi.

And this comment earlier today.

On top of that, Correa has some appeal for the Cubs because there’s no draft pick attached to him as he was ineligible to receive a qualifying offer this year.

But Morosi isn’t the only predicting Correa to the Cubs. Local Cubs curmudgeon Gordon Wittenmyer just yesterday predicted the Cubs would sign Correa.

Then there is this, for what it’s worth.

So what do you think? I’m not asking tonight if you think the Cubs should sign Correa, although you can discuss that in the comments if you want. Instead I’m asking you how optimistic you are that Carlos Correa will end up at Wrigley Field in pinstripes next April.

So how optimistic are you? (Or pessimistic, if you don’t like Correa, I suppose.)

Thank you for stopping in this evening. Stay warm on the way home. Stay safe, too. If you checked anything, we can get that for you now. Please tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for another edition of BCB After Dark.