Cub Tracks monkeys around

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.

So, this happened (see front-page summary): Much ado about nothing, as the bard said.

Yeah, we thought so. Thanks, Rob Manfred, owners.

Photo by Edward Gooch Collection/Getty Images

I hear the ghost of Brandon Palmer calling.

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.

• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): MLB lockout: The big issue? It’s the luxury tax, stupid. “A significant part of collective bargaining is … actually bargaining.”
• Jesse Rogers (ESPN*): MLB offers changes to tax penalties, minimum salary structure in latest proposal to locked-out players, sources say. “Sources told ESPN’s Joon Lee that the players came out of the meeting unimpressed by the league’s offer and that the two sides are still extremely far apart on an agreement.”
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs’ Jed Hoyer needs to hit the right spots. “When the MLB lockout ends, Hoyer will look to fill out his roster with a combination of contact hitters and sluggers to add balance to the lineup.”
• Jake Misener (Cubbies Crib*): Cubs haven’t had a homegrown 3+ WAR starter since 2014. “Only two teams – the Rangers and Diamondbacks – have longer spans than Chicago when it comes to last accomplishing this developmental feat.”
• Shawn Childs (Sports Illustrated*): Kyle Hendricks, Marcus Stroman must produce for struggling Cubs. “Their starting rotation has more risk than upside, pointing to another season with many losses.”
• Jared Wyllys (Forbes* {$}): Why a reunion between the Chicago Cubs and Anthony Rizzo would make sense. “Going after Rizzo instead of Freeman would allow the Cubs to improve on multiple fronts, which is what they need.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs’ Nico Hoerner, Nick Madrigal train together amid MLB Lockout. “Big league players can’t train at team facilities due to MLB’s lockout, but that isn’t stopping a pair of young Cubs from preparing for the 2022 season together.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): MLB Considers Spring Training unpaid internship for Minor Leaguers. “A league that celebrates Jackie Robinson by having players wear his number once a year has a woeful lack of diversity in leadership positions, which stems from ownership.”
• Richard Johnson (Cubbies Crib*): Proposed streaming service raises betting concerns. “... there would be some marketing linkage between the service and DraftDuel or FanKings or JB & Halle’s or whoever.”

Cubs birthdays: Bill Bradley. Gilly Campbell, Donnie Moore, Matt Mieske,

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.