{"id":122344,"date":"2025-11-18T15:23:58","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T15:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=122344"},"modified":"2025-11-18T15:23:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T15:23:58","slug":"%f0%9f%94%a5-breaking-chicago-cubs-at-a-crossroads-maddon-ricketts-and-suarez-drive-the-future-of-the-team-but-will-they-make-the-right-calls-with-legendary-manager-joe-maddon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=122344","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udd25 BREAKING: CHICAGO CUBS AT A CROSSROADS \u2014 MADDON, RICKETTS, AND SU\u00c1REZ DRIVE THE FUTURE OF THE TEAM, BUT WILL THEY MAKE THE RIGHT CALLS?  With legendary manager Joe Maddon\u2019s influence still looming, Cubs fans are waiting to see how Tom Ricketts will navigate the pressure from the media and make the crucial decisions that could shape the team\u2019s destiny. Meanwhile, Rafael Su\u00e1rez\u2019s future with the bullpen is uncertain, adding more fuel to the fire as the team faces key transitions ahead of the new season."},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\"><strong>We cover the coverage like PCA covers center field.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The Professor said goodbye. The Cubs\u2019 plans for him are as yet unascertained. Jesse Rogers had what info there was to be had. We of course wish only the very best for Kyle Hendricks and his family and await any developments.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Regardless of where you stand in the 2027 work stoppage dead pool, there is ample evidence that teams are at least gaming that out, and it doesn\u2019t take much to connect the Cubs\u2019 dots given the tenor of reportage over the last few seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The Cubs are going to have to lay down some heavy counterpoint to change that tune. Qualifying Offer acceptance deadline is today. Rule 5 rostering deadline likewise, and the tender deadline is upcoming. So there might actually BE developments, albeit on the smaller scale.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">*means\u00a0<em>autoplay on<\/em>, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).\u00a0<strong>{$}<\/strong>\u00a0means paywall. {$} means limited views.\u00a0<em>Italics\u00a0<\/em>are often used on this page as<em>\u00a0sarcasm font.\u00a0<\/em>The powers that be have enabled\u00a0<em>real sarcasm font<\/em>\u00a0in the comments.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"\">Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): Ranger Su\u00e1rez is exactly Jed Hoyer\u2019s type. Is that a pro or a con, this winter? \u201cThere\u2019s no question about which of this year\u2019s free-agent starting pitchers best suits what the Cubs like to do. The question is whether they\u2019re willing (or able) to keep doing the same things.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Food for thought<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Please be reminded that\u00a0Cub Tracks\u00a0and\u00a0Bleed Cubbie Blue\u00a0do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We will not wittingly publish A. I. \u2013 driven articles and we insist on reputable sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff\ufeffCub Tracks &#8211; Your #1 source for #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":122348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[139,2123,271,2017,3960,936,184,941],"class_list":["post-122344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-cubs","tag-jesse-rogers","tag-kyle-hendricks","tag-kyle-schwarber","tag-marquee-sports","tag-matt-shaw","tag-phillies","tag-ranger-suarez"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udd25 BREAKING: CHICAGO CUBS AT A CROSSROADS \u2014 MADDON, RICKETTS, AND SU\u00c1REZ DRIVE THE FUTURE OF THE TEAM, BUT WILL THEY MAKE THE RIGHT CALLS? With legendary manager Joe Maddon\u2019s influence still looming, Cubs fans are waiting to see how Tom Ricketts will navigate the pressure from the media and make the crucial decisions that could shape the team\u2019s destiny. Meanwhile, Rafael Su\u00e1rez\u2019s future with the bullpen is uncertain, adding more fuel to the fire as the team faces key transitions ahead of the new season. - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=122344\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udd25 BREAKING: CHICAGO CUBS AT A CROSSROADS \u2014 MADDON, RICKETTS, AND SU\u00c1REZ DRIVE THE FUTURE OF THE TEAM, BUT WILL THEY MAKE THE RIGHT CALLS? With legendary manager Joe Maddon\u2019s influence still looming, Cubs fans are waiting to see how Tom Ricketts will navigate the pressure from the media and make the crucial decisions that could shape the team\u2019s destiny. Meanwhile, Rafael Su\u00e1rez\u2019s future with the bullpen is uncertain, adding more fuel to the fire as the team faces key transitions ahead of the new season. - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\ufeff\ufeffCub Tracks - Your #1 source for #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB news.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=122344\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-18T15:23:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/avtvip-21-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=122344\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=122344\",\"name\":\"\ud83d\udd25 BREAKING: CHICAGO CUBS AT A CROSSROADS \u2014 MADDON, RICKETTS, AND SU\u00c1REZ DRIVE THE FUTURE OF THE TEAM, BUT WILL THEY MAKE THE RIGHT CALLS? 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