Cub Tracks’ face time

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.

Really not much going on in the baseball world. Today is International Free Agent Signing Day, so there’s some activity, but otherwise it’s the same old song and dance.

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.

• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): The Cubs have one of the biggest payroll differences between their current level and their recent high. “... the Cubs are number two, at $89 million under...”
• Michael Brakebill (Cubbies Crib*): 2 free agent packages to replace a Carlos Correa signing. “Perhaps the best route the Cubs can take isn’t even in that superstar player market.”
• Jake Misener (Cubbies Crib*): 3 distinct ways the Chicago Cubs could structure a Correa contract. “... the level of competition for Correa could do a lot in shaping what his next deal looks like.”
• Bryan Smith (Bleacher Nation*): The Cubs will sign players tomorrow! Let’s talk about International Free Agent Signing Day. “January 15 is merely the celebratory day of putting pen to paper.” Todd Johnson elaborates.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs Great Jon Lester’s retirement means Chicago owes him a beer. “I don’t like to lose.” SI chimes in.
• Ricky Doyle (NESN*): Dustin Pedroia shares funny story about only time he faced Jon Lester. “It happened during a spring training batting practice in 2005, before either player reached the majors.”

Cubs birthdays: Jock Menefee, Grover Lowdermilk, Dick Culler, William Brennan, Delino DeShields, Ray King, Matt Duffy.

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.