Cub Tracks’ reptile dysfunction

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 and attempt to distill the zeitgeist onto the printed page. Served cold for your pleasure. Please enjoy immoderately.

The season goes on while we fans of also-rans brace for the inevitable talent bazaar, hoping against hope that our favorites remain after the smoke clears. It’s a pretty good bet that several Cubs will be moving on in less than a week’s time... and of course some of the scribes have words about that.

Photo by Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

Ian Happ wants to stay. So does Willson Contreras. I imagine the others do as well. Chicago’s a pretty good place to live, especially if you’re young enough and wealthy enough to enjoy it all. The ballpark is nice. The fans are numerous and enthusiastic. The team as is has some talent, with more in the minors, and the promise of winning fairly soon isn’t empty.

The rest is business. Passionless enterprise. The players are commodities and are marketed accordingly. The meat market isn’t exactly new — read almost any edition of my Baseball history unpacked feature and you’ll see personnel movement. But it does seem more cold-blooded than it ever was.

However, I do caution you that we’ve yet to see Rob Manfred bite the head off a rat, and Tom Ricketts may not be here for our water. Then again, maybe he is. I love the smell of sarcasm in the morning. V for Victory.

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• Ryan O’Rourke (Cubbies Crib*): Cubs need to be more open to extensions with the next generation. “... this organization needs to do better when it comes to extensions for their homegrown talent.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Don’t forget about Mychal Givens – There is “strong interest” out there. “Givens is drawing a lot of interest in a market that seems thin on relief talent.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): 5 observations from the Chicago Cubs’ miniseries, including Contreras’ trade market and David Robertson’s ‘rest’. “1. A reported interest in Contreras from the Houston Astros could spark a bidding war.” Evan Altman dishes it out.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Robertson leads trio of righty Cubs relievers drawing lots of looks. “... so expect to see a lot of folks reading the bullpen-usage tea leaves...”
• Tony Andracki (Marquee Sports Network*): Willson Contreras’ message to Cubs fans. “I love you all,” he said. Jon Greenberg critiques this {$}.
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs fans’ unique gesture to salute Ian Happ amid uncertainty. “... they gifted him a signed baseball.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Report: ‘Almost Everyone’ wants Happ, Cubs likely to trade him. “... his production far exceeds his $6.85 million salary for this season...”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Now the Braves are hot on Happ? A combo deal with David Robertson? “I’m not sure the Braves are a good fit in that regard.” Evan Altman has another helping of this.
• Tony Andracki (Marquee Sports Network*): As trade deadline approaches, Happ reflects on time with Cubs: ‘It goes quick’. “I don’t want to leave here without absorbing it and taking it in,” Happ said before Monday’s game.
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): How Christopher Morel is processing a potential trade of his ‘brother’ Willson Contreras. “He’s like our ringleader,” Morel said.
• Ryan Kerr (Sports Mockery*): Cubs rookie Nelson Velázquez makes power statement. “No one wants Velázquez to have a hot second half more than Cubs’ management.”
• Eno Sarris (The Athletic {$}): The cheaper — but still useful — alternatives to big-name stars at the MLB trade deadline. “... realities of this year’s trade deadline probably mean that the available players will be more expensive and most of the buyers will be more tentative.”
• Matthew Leach (MLB.com*): Here are the latest Rookie Power Rankings. A Top Ten list with Cubs on it.

Food for Thought:

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