The J.T. Realmuto rumors about the Braves were quickly dismissed as leverage, but this morning, there’s more chatter.

There is no better nickname in the game than El Mago. Fun with that, with one of the Cubs’ new top prospects, and much more.

Not too shabby for the Cubs’ farm system at this moment.

Schilling tweeted support for the riot at the Capitol earlier this month, and that seems to have been a final straw for some Hall of Fame voters.

It’s a lot harder to have fun playing the game of baseball when there’s so much noise.

What comes next for the Mets, and how it could impact a whole lot of other teams. Also, Realmuto market talk.

Cool. Bryce Harper wanted the Cubs to pursue him a couple years ago, but it just didn’t happen.

David Bote’s results against lefties have gotten worse and worse, but I don’t think that actually tells us what you might think.

The Cubs still need a back-up catcher, for the record.

Dermody was one of the Cubs’ many interesting reclamation relief options.

The latest from the intertwined rumor mill.

Even ignoring the anticipated quality of performance, the Cubs just flat don’t have enough starting pitching right now.

The market is humming.

That’s a looooong-term deal right there.

Some love for Miguel Amaya, and some eye-popping data on Shelby Miller.

First Lester, then Chatwood, now Q.

That’s a healthy guarantee!

It’s very annoying to hear about the Dodgers considering Marcus Semien as a flexible infield option when the Cubs could use precisely that.

The Cubs have said they will investigate what happened, as well.

The Nationals just want to take every outgoing Cub they can.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling the fan heartstrings tugged, negatively, by what happened. The discussion has to get bigger from there.

The IFA process doesn’t stop on the first day.

Porter was a Cubs employee at the time, however, which means more investigation is needed.

Porter was just hired as the Mets’ new GM, and had long been seen as a rising star in front office circles.

Chatwood could still be very good. Nice buy-low option for the Blue Jays.

Jon Lester is officially not reuniting with the Cubs.

The Padres want all your starting pitchers. Also, the Pirates are going to be so very bad.

Is Lester about to join Kyle Schwarber’s new team?

The latest from the rumor mill, including a crummy sign on the Cubs’ second base efforts.

A write-up out of New York would have the Yankees targeting Hendricks in trade.

Jeffress got exceptionally strong results for the Cubs last year, so a reunion would of course be lovely.

I wouldn’t necessarily have expected more at this point, but you sure hope it looks different by this time next year.

Without knowing the course on those two players, the questions on finances, on roster holes, and on competitiveness in 2021 are enormous.

It had to be really weird process getting Miller into the fold after his last few years and the state of things. Also: Mills talk.

Miller was fantastic in his younger days and is still only 30 years old.

There doesn’t appear to be a trade in place yet, but the Reds are obviously in sell mode.

Is that a promise or a threat?