Published by
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs began their sell-off late Thursday night by sending Joc Pederson to the Atlanta Braves for a Class A prospect. But it doesn’t even rate as an appetizer for what’s to come. Dealing the 29-year-old Pederson for 23-year-old first baseman Bryce Ball is like getting free breadsticks before the main meal. It may halt your hunger cravings, but it’s really just a way to pass time while waiting for the entree. Perhaps no one epitomized the Cubs’ first-half roller coaster like Pederson, who was brought in to replace Kyle Schwarber, whom the Cubs non-tendered last fall when the…