Cub Tracks’ the Morel of the story

Welcome to today’s edition of Cub Tracks news and notes™, featuring material from current beat writers, bloggers, and the occasional in-house habitué, moonlighting. These pieces center around #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball. We try to distill the zeitgeist into easily digestible chunks, which we then marinate in Jeppson’s Malört and Old Style beer for that true Chicago flavor and allow to ferment overnight for that extra little bit of piquance. Once we’ve added a liberal sprinkling of the muck we rake, the product is ready for consumption.

Yeah, Rob hates baseball. What he likes is money. ESPN’s whitewash job is entirely unconvincing, to me. But then, I don’t think there is anything wrong with the game of baseball. The problem is with baseball’s handlers. They don’t take input from players or fans. They are responsive to investors. They are wed to the profit margin.

That’s the price of business, you say. But then they are not entertainment, they are a business, like the other three major sports. Bye-bye antitrust exemption. Can’t have it both ways.

Not a LOT of stuff today, but good stuff. And Luke Richardson to boot. BlackHawks going to be taking the body, you bet. Still have some stuff to work though over there at the second Madhouse on Madison, but that’s a good start for the organization. RIP Jim Pappin.

Extend Fabian.

Justin Steele had good stuff Wednesday night. Hunter Greene threw in the triple digits.

Former Bearcat Ian Happ clubbed a Greene fastball to left-center to drive in Willson Contreras (ploinked) in the first and it stayed that way for a while, with both starters heaving pills. Steele in fact was throwing leather miltowns until Tommy Pham’s glove dodger in the fourth, and that led to a ducks on the pond situation...

Pay the man already.

There was more. Al will tell you all about it in his recap.

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• Rob van Notta (ESPN*): Rob Manfred wants you to know: He doesn’t hate baseball, he wants to save it. “Yeah, here’s the problem,” Manfred says. “When you acknowledge there’s something wrong with the game, that turns you into a hater of baseball.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Here are 5 potential explanations Cubs having ‘lot of money left’ in baseball budget. “They lied during the offseason.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Why the Cubs should be getting trade calls on Kyle Hendricks. “... it’s fair to wonder if Hendricks could use a change of scenery...” Tim Stebbins has more.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Keegan Thompson’s developing slider proving to be nasty. “Some really bad swings on that,” Cubs manager David Ross said. Tim Stebbins has more.
• Eric Rubin (Cubbies Crib*): Cubs need to turn things over to the kids on the mound. “The Cubs are not going anywhere this season, so they might as well call-up some of their top pitching prospects to see what they are capable of.”
• Ryan O’Rourke (Cubbies Crib*): Cubs are punting on 2023 if they trade Ian Happ. “Trading Happ just makes the work they have to do next offseason even harder...”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Rafael Ortega’s playing time on the Chicago Cubs is increasing. But will he be around after the trade deadline? “So if there’s a team out there that might think that my skill set would work for the team — I mean, my mentality is to come in and try to do good job.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Seiya Suzuki heading to Iowa for a rehab assignment. “On May 26, Suzuki slid into second base. It didn’t go well.” Tommy Birch has more.
• Chicago Food Magazine*: The Davis Theater hosts Thor-themed contest with tickets to 5 Cubs games for Grand Prize. “... opening night costume contest on Thursday, July 7 from 7pm – 9pm.”

Food for Thought:

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