John Sickels has the Cubs minor league system rated #10 in his latest rankings. Last year they were 20th. The Cardinals are #1, the Pirates are #5, the Reds are #15 and the Brewers are #23. 10) Chicago Cubs (20): Another system that has improved quickly. Strengths: hitting at the top: Javier Baez, Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, Dan Vogelbach is a …
Get Out Your ‘It’s Gonna Happen’ Signs and DeRosa Shirseys, It’s Cubs Convention Time!
It's that time again! Every winter, the Cubs gather their current players, management, and any ex-players for whom they have blackmail material and trot them out like showdogs for their fans in a massive effort to "build their brand" or "polish the turd." Yes, the Cubs Convention is tomorrow and the Cubs have been very busy planning how best to shovel massive …
Sammy Sosa Would Like You to Remember He Once Hit a Lot of Homeruns and You Loved Him
As a Cubs blogger, I think I'm going to have to get down on my knees and thank the good Lord that Sammy Sosa has joined us in the social media world. We've seen his Pinterest page and his Twitter account. He also has a Facebook page littered with the same awesome yellow-sweatered photos as his Pinterest (which @harrypav pointed …
Even Greg Maddux May Have Trouble Getting Into the Hall of Fame Next Year
Recently, we’ve talked in the comments a little about how much harder it is going to be to get anybody into the Hall of Fame in future ballots because the BBWAA has clogged it up with very legitimate candidates. I’ve seen expectations here and elsewhere that Maddux will get in for sure next year. Normally, I’d agree that he, at …
Sammy Sosa’s Pinterest Page is Exactly What You’d Expect Sammy Sosa’s Pinterest Page to Be
Sammy Sosa has a pinterest page (and Twitter). I heard rumors about it this morning and then I saw Deadspin’s post that it has been confirmed as him. Nothing but a wall of photos of Sosa posing in his home. There’s Sammy in a suit! There’s Sammy in a nice sweater! So carefree! So happy! And every single photo has …
2012 in Review: January – When We Were Stupidly Kind of Optimistic About Stuff
2012 was pretty painful to live through as a Cubs fan, and even more so as a Cubs blogger who felt obligated to pay even more attention than is normally considered safe for human beings in an effort to bring you our non-classy, confidence-lacking, reundiscreditationalness that you all expect from us. So we're going to make you re-live the pain all …
OV Hall of Fame Survey Results
The BBWAA gets ripped a lot for terrible decision-making when it comes to voting on the Baseball Hall of Fame. This yea's' ballot is particularly interesting because it pits a lot of guys who get points/votes for being gutty winners despite stats that don't clearly portray a Hall of Fame career against guys that have been tagged as selfish/cheaters while …
What is Japanese for LaBomb?
Bryan LaHair was designated for assignment today. I think we generally hoped he would have a teeny tiny bit of trade value, but maybe he didn't or maybe the Cubs thought they should do right by him and just let him go so he can pursue an opportunity elsewhere (the talks of Japan are most prevalent). But no matter the …
Will Jim Deshaies Be the Replacement for Bob Brenly?
If Rant Sports can generate blog hits by using incredibly over-the-top and sometimes completely misleading headlines for their posts, then so can I. I figured it was as good a headline as any for the following shallowly researched filler material. We know Jim Deshaies, the current color commentator for the Houston Astros, got an interview as a potential replacement for …
C'mon, What's Ol' Gil Gotta Do to Get a Bunch of Overpaid Players on the Cubs?
The Patience Plan that the Cubs are executing was first met with wide appeal when Theo and Jed first arrived on the scene about a year ago. They came in and stated quite clearly that they would be building from within, re-stocking the largely barren farm system they inherited from Jim Hendry, and any free agent signings in the near …