Cub Tracks plays the game

Welcome to today’s edition of Cub Tracks news and notes™, a greatest-hits collection of Chicago-style beat writers and bloggers, ground from #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball, overheated, and then cold-brewed overnight for maximum flavor.

Rylan Bannon, we hardly knew ye. Exchange Willson Contreras for Christian Vázquez? Hmm. I am intrigued. Tell me more. Let’s also consider the source...

I keep reading about sticker shock. Players seemingly want huge quantities of filthy lucre to perform their tasks. As well they should. They are the game.

But consumers, conditioned by years of contract talk and league-based propaganda, often take the side of owners, who still mostly operate by plantation rules, and oppose the obvious equitability of players earning those ‘huge sums’.

Baby, you’ve been HAD. The game is a business, regardless of what their anti-trust exemption says. How they keep that is beyond me... or beyond what you or I can say in this space. But ownership certainly maintains a(n) (un)healthy percentage of profit for themselves. They can afford to spend the money and not risk their investment(s).

* 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. The powers that be have enabled sarcasm font in the comments.

• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): MLB’s version of the Supreme Court may have the final word on the ‘Steroids Era’. “The Hall of Fame couldn’t have chosen a better group of representatives from the ranks of Hall of Famers, executives and media members.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): What’s in store for Cubs at Winter Meetings? “This winter, the Cubs are still in a transitional phase...”
• Cameron Zunkel (Cubbies Crib*): Cubs have a chance for the first pick of the 2023 MLB draft. “The top six picks will be chosen by lottery, but every team that missed the playoffs will have a chance at the first pick.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Jameson Taillon wants bigger deal than expected, Cubs may have hard time finding pitching value. “... the trio of front-line guys at the top may end up increasing the price for those below them.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): How the Cubs are developing top draft picks Cade Horton, Jackson Ferris, Nazier Mulé. “The Cubs’ pitching development made real strides last summer.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Cubs ‘showing strong interest’ in Christian Vázquez as catching carousel spins. “... he’s an excellent defender and game-caller who fits the Cubs’ needs to a tee.” Tim Stebbins adds some words.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Who could the Cubs target for first base? “We’ve talked about depth a lot, and it’s important to keep building that depth...”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Jon Heyman names Cubs the favorites for Dansby Swanson. “In the abstract, he’s a good player to have on your team.” Evan Altman has first and second thoughts.
• Shakeia Taylor (Chicago Tribune* {$}): What’s the current state of Chicago baseball? 4 lifelong Cubs and White Sox fans weigh in. “Fans often have a “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” mindset about their teams...”

Food for Thought:

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the opinions of writers whose work is linked to in this series of articles. Thanks for reading!