Cub Tracks’ dumb show

The diamond is in rough shape. I really have trouble buying into the mindset that teams that spend millions and millions of dollars are suddenly poor because of some arbitrary ceiling that’s imposed as a de facto salary cap. It’s BS, plain and simple. No explanation will make it okay. It’s collusion, in the classic sense of the word.

Granted that you can’t buy championships — the New York Steinbrenners proved that. But you can remain competitive as a result of star-studded rosters. Take a page from the memo book of the Los Angeles bat-Dodgers... it’s delusion, in the classic sense of the word.

Symptoms of some quasi-social disease? Very likely. Stop me before I wax political and the floor gets slippery with grease as we trot out the classics. You CAN make a silk purse out of a pig in a poke — just ask the people who run sports-for-profit. It’s confusion, in the classic sense of the word.

This two-year non-spending trend has become a bit embarrassing for such a big-market team. It’s one thing for the Cubs to not throw their financial weight around during the winter. But to miss out on complementary pieces because the budget is so tight that upgrading the team requires trading players who make significant money? It’s not only laughable, it’s unacceptable. — Sahadev Sharma {$}.

Maybe they should all report to Grover. The most profane of the Sesame Street characters, you know. Oscar’s my favorite, and a role model, but that’s a whole different can of worms and we’ll save that for another day.

Blue Christmas indeed. Happy holidaze. All I want under my tree is a competitive squad. That won’t fix the endemic problems with sportsball in general, but it’ll make the hundreds of hours I’ll spend watching, reading about, and writing about the Cubs a little more bearable, while they try to duck under the luxury tax threshold this year (yep, a one-year attempted tank) so they can go over it next year without the three-successive-years penalty. It’s like fixing the broken car window with saran wrap and duct tape — I’ve been waiting all my life for this team and I think it’s irresponsible to play these games in this manner. I feel cheated. I am not having fan apathy. I’m having fan antipathy. I hate this part.

Here’s today’s Cubs News and Notes. 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 here as sarcasm font.

Seriously. It’s not under the tree. Look again.

• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Brother, can you spare a dime for the Cubs bullpen? How about second base? “So who is in their “minor-league deal” price range?”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Do we finally understand “The Plan,” Chicago Cubs 2020 edition? “... relative disaster is precisely why the Cubs are more willing to expose cracks in 2020 in service of longer-term goals...” Building on the previous day’s article.
• Ryan Davis (Forbes*): The 5 biggest mistakes Theo Epstein has made with the Cubs. “... the 2009 version had a lot in common with the 2019 Cubs.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Offseason checklist: Cubs’ needs and moves. “The Cubs’ four-year streak of reaching the playoffs -- a run that included winning the World Series in 2016 -- came to an end this past season.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs reach into bargain bin for free agent reliever Ryan Tepera as bigger moves remain on hold. “Their efforts to improve an 84-win roster are stuck in payroll-budget limbo until they can make a trade that moves significant salary off the books...”
• Greg Huss (Cubs Insider*): These 5 Cubs pitching prospects could be next Pitch Lab success stories. Kyle Ryan and Rowan Wick are examples.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Cubs connected to comeback OF Steven Souza, aging Lefty Dallas Keuchel. “Unless the Cubs make some other moves, though, this doesn’t make much sense.” Tim Stebbins has more on Souza’s march through free agency and Keuchel.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Cubs looking at Joe Panik for second base … if they can afford him (Um, LOL?). “Panik, who was excellent in 2015, has been on a steady decline in productivity since then...”
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): From Akiyama to Almora, center field remains primary focus for Cubs this offseason. “If we went more status quo, we need someone to step up in center field,” Epstein said last week.
• Cubs birthdays: Bill Traffley, Dell Darling, Jim Doyle, Cy Williams, Pete Scott, Bob Rush, Dave Kingman, LaTroy Hawkins, Brian Schlitter.

Today in baseball history:

• 1960 - Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley announces the club will not have a manager for the next season, but will instead use a college of coaches, who will take turns managing the ballclub. The original eight coaches include Charlie Grimm, Ripper Collins and Rube Walker. Before the season is over, Vedie Himsl, Harry Craft, El Tappe and Lou Klein will have taken turns leading the team. The results will be disastrous for the Cubs, who will finish the season 35 games out of first place, but the experiment will be repeated in 1962 before being shelved for good.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.