The rumor around the water cooler is that the Braves are aggressively shopping Evan Gattis. The Cubs are in the market for an upgrade at catcher, kicking the tires on Russell Martin (who wants a 5/75 deal. move along, little doggie.). Martin is known for great pitch framing and plate discipline. Evan Gattis isn’t known for either, though he has …
Bulls 95, Bucks 86 (11/5/14)
Full Disclosure: I didn’t watch this game, as I was (and am) battling a fever at the moment. Where has Doug McDermott gone? Dougie McBuckets has seen his minutes shrink from 24, to 17, to 11, to 11, and now to 7 minutes this season. It doesn’t seem as if Thibs trusts the young fella yet, and I can see …
I hope we miss
Today is the first day of free agency. The Cubs are linked to many of the top free agents; from Max Scherzer to Jon Lester to David Robertson (wtf). If I’m being completely honest, I hope we miss on all of the top free agent pitchers we are linked to. My reasoning is very simple. The Cubs have a finite …
Joe Maddon, Cubs Manager, is Officially Official
The #Cubs have agreed to terms with the two-time AL Manager of the Year through the 2019 season. Welcome, @Maddonini! pic.twitter.com/YZTxnZA72F — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 3, 2014 Well, there you have it. Joe Maddon ——> Cubs is officially official. Reports are that it is a 5 year, $25 million deal. I don’t know who reported it first and I …
Rest in Peace, Oscar Taveras
The baseball world received a terrible piece of news yesterday night, as Oscar Taveras died in a car accident at age of 22. His girlfriend, Edilia Arvelo, also passed away. My thoughts go out to both families. May they find peace. Baseball is a game that I, among many others at this site, have a passion for. To me, baseball …
Coming up with the current 2015 payroll/roster
There was a little confusion about my $65 million number in my last article. The Cubs have a $65 million payroll next year, but it doesn’t (at first glance) appear that way. I assure you it is. Major League Contracts Starlin Castro: $6M Anthony Rizzo: $5M Edwin Jackson: $11M Ryan Sweeney: $1.5M Kyuji Fujikawa: $500K (we will decline his $5M …
Cubs and Effective Walk Rate
Theo Epstein held a presser to debrief on the 2014 season. I look forward to those happening in October or November, but that should come relatively soon. The tone of the conference was near-universally positive, and that makes sense. There are a lot of things to be optimistic about, chief among them our cheap, dynamic core of players both already …
Cubs’ 2014 trades in retrospect
The Cubs were fairly active at the trading deadline this year. How did they do? All numbers are post-trade. July 5 Cubs trade Jeff Samardzija (5-5, 2.92 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 16 GS) Jason Hammel (2-6, 4.52 ERA, 5.44 FIP, 11 GS) for Addison Russell (.295/.333/.539, .390 wOBA, 204 PA) (AA) Billy McKinney (.301/.390/.432, .379 wOBA, 210 PA) (A+) Dan Straily …
A Journey Through Rookie Breakouts
Jorge Soler has been an absolute Bad Dude during his first go-round in the majors. His 176 OPS+ is 8th among post-Integration rookies with 80 or more PA. Let’s look at the 10 best seasons to see what company Soler is in. 1. Willie McCovey – .354/.429/.656, 219 PA Willie McCovey is a HOF, who played 22 years and put …
Will the Cubs divest themselves of Edwin Jackson?
One thing the Cubs have a preponderance of is #5-#6-#7-type starters. From Dallas Beeler to Eric Jokisch to Chris Rusin to Travis Wood to Felix Doubront to Justin Turner to Dan Straily the really deep cuts (Yoanner Negrin or Carlos Pimentel, anyone? Dae-Eun Rhee?), the Cubs have plenty of options to plug into the back end of their rotation (of …