BCB After Dark: Will it Happ-en?

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the swingin’ spot for night owls, early-risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. I hope you’ve had a pleasant day today. So glad you could join us tonight. We’re going to have a mellow show tonight, so settle on in and relax. There’s still a few tables available. Bring your own beverage.

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.

Tonight the Cubs lost to the Reds, 5-3, wasting a pretty good outing by Keegan Thompson. That stinks. I don’t have that much more to say about that.

Last night, I asked you if you thought Jon Lester would be inducted into Cooperstown and whether or not he should be. On the second question, 63 percent of you think Lester should go in. But only 48 percent of you think that he will.

On Tuesday nights/Wednesday mornings, I skip the movie talk, but you can go back and see what I wrote about The Petrified Forest last time. But there’s always time for some jazz, so we’ll put that in here. Those of you who skip that can do so now.

I realized it’s been a while since I featured any Miles Davis. So it’s time to rectify it.

This is Miles playing “So What” on a television program in 1959. John Coltrane is on tenor sax, Paul Chambers on bass, Wynton Kelly on piano and Jimmy Cobb on drums. This is Miles at the height of his abilities and playing his most famous tune.

Welcome back to everyone who skips all that jazz.

Tonight’s a simple question: Will the Cubs trade Ian Happ this season?

Happ is having the best season of his career so far. His 2.3 bWAR is the highest of his career and the season isn’t even half over yet. He’s been one of the bright spots in a sorry season and has emerged as a team leader.

But Happ is also a free agent after next season. If the Cubs aren’t planning on signing him to an extension, they’d probably never get more for him than they would get next month. Teams are willing to pay much more for a player that they have for one year and two months over a player that they have just two months of control over.

Of course, because the Cubs have Happ under team control for next season, they don’t have to trade him. They can wait until this winter or next summer if they don’t get an offer they like. Or they can try to sign him to an extension this winter.

Happ, for his part, said that he’s tuned out any trade rumors, (The Athletic sub. req.) but he knows that it’s a possibility.

So will the Cubs trade Ian Happ in July?

Thank you so much for stopping by. Please check around your table and make sure you didn’t leave anything behind. Our lost-and-found is crowded enough as it is. If you need us to call a ride home for you, let us know. Please tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for another edition of BCB After Dark.