At the risk of reviving the old chestnut Abbott and Costello routine, the Cubs quest for a second baseman and the stockpiling of questionable material to that end is pretty amusing. Having bid farewell to Addison Russell and Ben Zobrist this off-season and Daniel Murphy last, none of whom exactly lit the world on fire, rumors have it the Cubs are interested in a pair of disappointing former stars, Jason Kipnis and Scooter Gennett. Already on the roster are David Bote, epic flop Daniel Descalso, Nico Hoerner, Robel Garcia, and Ian Happ. Enough already.
I suppose I Don't Know's on third should the Cubs trade Kris Bryant, which, incidentally, is one of the dumbest rumors perpetrated by the sportswriting profession in modern times. It seems to be based on the notion the Cubs need to get under the salary limit right now, among other things. Actually, the salary total at the end of the season determines any luxury tax penalty, so they could easily add salary if they wanted to do so and just dump it at the trade deadline if they are out of contention. I mean, they could still trade Bryant, but it means giving up on the season, which the Red Sox have done in trying to peddle Betts, but why on earth would they want to do that in a pretty competitive division they should be favored to win.
