#Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB news, notes, and commentary, four days a week, rain or shine. Player movement has commenced and round and round we go.
WELCOME to today’s episode 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, steeped in writers’ tears, and then cold-brewed overnight for maximum flavor. No artificial intelligences were deployed, employed, entranced, or embalmed in the commission of this missive (apparently I might be training some though). Cub Tracks eagerly awaits the advent of robotic umpires and has already amended the three laws. The going is weird. Cub Tracks turned pro a long time ago.
Cub Tracks. Where the great ones run away.
Rob loves money, and that might mean more baseball in the stream. His plans affect the entire baseball-broadcasting landscape. Evan Drellich has a article explaining that, below.
Eli Morgan and Matt Thaiss are now Cubs. The linkage is to the front-page articles on their acquisition. Thaiss is likely an insurance option and might not see the spring in a Chicago Cubs uniform. Morgan is a serviceable righty, a decent middle relief option.
Patrick Wisdom is on his way out, as is Trey Wingenter, who we hardly knew. Brennen Davis and Albert Alzolay, too, though there’s some possibility of bringing one of both back on lesser deals.
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- Brian Kelder (North Side Baseball*): What, exactly, does Tyler Zombro bring to the Cubs pitching support staff? “… as a trainer, he would seem to have experience on the instruction side of pitching.”
- Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Premium velocity and whether the Cubs can keep succeeding without it. “The Cubs had MLB’s lowest average fastball velocity as a pitching staff every year from 2021-24…”
- Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): State of the Cubs: Ian Happ’s calming presence in left field. “Happ was his usual solid self for the Cubs in 2024.” Shortstop.
- Ryan O’Rourke (Cubbies Crib*): The end of the Brennen Davis saga is a reminder of the harsh reality of prospects. “Davis once seemed like a sure thing for the Chicago Cubs, but years of injuries derailed his promising young career.”
- Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs need a superstar. Here’s why it won’t be free-agent slugger Juan Soto. “If the Cubs continue to operate this way and don’t fully tap into their financial might, though, the pressure increases on the organization to develop draftees into game-changing elite talent …”
- Evan Drellich (The Athletic {$}): MLB plans new national TV packages for 2028; changes to revenue sharing, CBA crucial. “Producing the changes the commissioner seeks would require some heavy lifting.”
Food for Thought:
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