No TV, no radio. Absolute BS. Baseball teams can afford to take the loss in order to promote the game. But they won’t. And it isn’t going to get better.
For the cost of an NRI longshot or, even better, some minuscule portion of CEO salary, these games could be made available to you and me. But it’s not going to happen, because infectious inimical capitalism is rife. Gordon Gekko might have been talking about sports culture.
Don’t let Rob fool you. He hates baseball. He likes money.
Meanwhile, in Arizona:
Swanson also singled home another run in the bottom of the sixth. Porter Hodge had another subpar outing. Jefferson Rojas and Pedro Ramirez had good days, and the Cubs took away an 8-6 victory.
*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.
- Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): More than half of MLB teams would be outside reported salary cap and floor sought by owners. “Very early estimates suggest the proposed cap (ceiling) might be set around the $260M-$280M range and the floor around $140M-$160M.”
- Justin Kaufman (Axios*): Chicago Cubs spring training draws record crowds at Sloan Park in Mesa. “After a strong offseason, the Cubs believe they’re positioned for another playoff run.”
- Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): Shota Imanaga’s arm angle is back up, along with his velocity. “… last season, Imanaga tried a mechanical tweak that didn’t work…”
- Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): How Cubs hope to maximize pitcher Edward Cabrera’s talents this spring. “It’s really just that onboarding process,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy told the Sun-Times.
- David Laurilla (Fangraphs*): Ben Brown pitch-designed a sinker over the offseason. “Clay Holmes introduced me to the grip,” Brown said.
- Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Catching up with Nico Hoerner, the glue guy who holds the Cubs together. “As the club’s union representative, he will play a leading role during the final year of the sport’s current labor deal.”
- Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs’ Alex Bregman and Dansby Swanson’s careers have run parallel — now they’ve converged for a second time. “Long before they reunited with the Cubs, Bregman and Swanson were teammates for one memorable summer.”
- Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Rojas jumping at his chance to make a splash. “Jefferson’s made a great impression,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
- Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs camp notes: Matt Shaw learning on the fly in right field — and Jonathon Long withdraws from WBC. “… Shaw described playing the outfield as a learning process.”
- Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): ‘It leaves you hungry’: Michael Conforto motivated to make the Chicago Cubs — and get back to World Series. “You’re betting on the history,” Counsell said. “He had a rough year last year, but he’s been a really good player.” Jordan Bastian has more.
Food For Thought:
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We will not wittingly publish A. I. – driven articles or clickbait, and insist on unimpeachable sources.
