I think it’s mostly a coincidence in the timing, but dang, the timing sure is crazy.

This morning, Cubs Business President Crane Kenney was on The Score, and expressed some uncertainty about whether the Cubs would be able to get a carriage deal for Marquee Sports Network on YouTube TV. It was a bit unclear precisely why he had that uncertainty, but it sounded like he was framing it as a business decision Google was making about what local sports channels they would be carrying overall (rather than it being about Marquee, specifically).

And, sure enough, just now, YouTube drops this bombshell:

We purchase rights from Sinclair to distribute content to you. Despite our best efforts, we’ve been unable to reach an agreement with Sinclair. As a result, we will no longer offer FOX Regional Sports Networks, including YES Network, beginning February 29th. — YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) February 27, 2020

Thank you for your membership as we strive to build the best possible streaming experience for you. You will receive an email today if you’re impacted by this change. — YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) February 27, 2020

YouTube is dropping the ENTIRE SLATE of FOX RSNs, which would explain why they aren’t making a deal with Marquee either. Clearly, Google wants to see if they can still thrive as a service without paying for regional sports networks.

… or at least they want to make this very serious threat just before baseball season begins, given that they have now just dropped more than half of MLB teams from their service. This is kinda crazy, but it definitely explains Kenney’s uncertainty. I would expect Major League Baseball is going to have some behind-the-scenes opinions on this, because losing a major streaming service for more than half your teams is really problematic in an era of increased streaming reliance.

For now, if you’re a cord-cutter in the Cubs’ market and you want to have access to Marquee, you’re gonna want to go with Hulu+ Live TV, because I’m not sure you’ll see a deal with YouTube any time soon.