It’s assumed that the media has a better understanding of similes and metaphors because they are schooled in those things at journalism school. Because the line between journalism and media has become so blurred in the past twenty years, it’s naive to assume that any of the above can work an apt metaphor into daily conversation. In dealing with the current cold front, some idiot said that it was colder than hell. Regardless of one’s belief in the afterlife, the general presumption is that hell is extremely hot so that something being colder than hell means nothing. The correct metaphor is when hell freezes over which indicates something nigh-impossible happening.

With all of Greater Chicago freezing over I thought now would be the perfect time to stop talking about football and moving on to baseball and warmer weather. It seems that Alex Bregman will be a perfect replacement for the recently departed, Kyle Tucker, the Chicago media seems to believe the Cubs chances to reclaim the NL Central were aided more by the Brewers trade of Freddy Peralta than this addition.

Unfortunately, we measure a professional (and now college) athlete by his salary and whether he earns it. As such, Tucker would be deemed better than Bregman and Cody Bellinger but we’ll have to wait to see who got the best of the offseason, the Cubs, Dodgers or Yankees. Maybe one of the teams that didn’t sign any of these guys will emerge victorious.

As for the two Mets prospects that came back to the Brewers in the trade, Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat are more highly rated than the two prospects the White Sox got in the Luis Robert Jr. trade but are no more a sure thing.

Peralta is a proven commodity, a winner, leader and the third head of a starting monster that stymied the NL Central for the last five years or so. Of course, Milwaukee believes they have the arms and mechanism to replace Peralta’s wins and innings. However, Cubs nation sees this as a chink in the Brewers armor. Despite their ability to regenerate talent the way a starfish replaces arms, the belief outside of Milwaukee is that this trend/ability finally has to have run its course.

Even if one doesn’t have a rooting interest in either team, it’s possible to debate who won the trades, who is better set to take the division and how other teams figure in the discussion. Fans and the media don’t need all of the facts or information to make uneducated or even educated bets on these things (while not actually putting any money on the line), but that doesn’t mean they’re any closer to the truth.

At some point in February or March, friends and relatives will ask for my thoughts on the Cubs upcoming season. By then, I’ll have processed some more information which I will plug into the Bat Computer for a projected win total. As with those predicting the weather, I reserve the right to make multiple predictions during the course of the season. I most assuredly will be 120% wrong, but I’ll enjoy the exercise especially if I spend more than a few innings sitting in a ballpark.