We were hoping on the last Dreamcast that the Cubs would make a sort of a run, and so far so good (albeit could’ve swept but for some dumb baseball things and the usual bullpen grumblings). As I revisited the preview I did before the season started (which still includes Japan even if we pretend that didn’t happen), I think …
Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson Reinstated—And Really Different
Commissioner Rob Manfred throws a bone both to fellow trash former human and to a different guy who probably actually loved baseball On Tuesday, Rob Manfred sent a letter to a lawyer to let lawbreakers loose after leaving the land of the living, leaving lifetime bans limited to the length of the lives against whom they are levied by the …
Off Day Reset Before the Rest of the Gauntlet
The Cubs are off today, one of many this month of April which includes every Thursday up until their road finale against the Pirates in Pittsburgh on May 1. This after 15 games which includes a tough “home” (Japan)/road trip and a tough home stand prior to a tough road trip back out West. If you haven’t noticed the theme …
Nearly End of Cactus League Cubs Roster Reset
In the midst of watching Clemson blow it as the better seed in the NCAA tournament, but the news from the comments in the last post showed that Jordan Wicks and Eli Morgan had been optioned to Iowa. We knew going in that the Cubs had an inordinate number of useful relief options, yet very few of them, ironically, were …
A Post-Tokyo Cubs Reset
OK, so the Cubs didn’t do as hot as they could have in Tokyo. Those two losses count and won’t go away, so now they have to make the most of the remaining 160. I could just copy-paste what I wrote last time, but maybe just click over and see. Since the Cubs couldn’t even split (though I’m happy they …
2025 Cubs Season Preview
We sort of teased this in the last Dreamcast, but there’s still a couple weeks until the Cubs play in Tokyo, and maybe we should at least look at the schedule as it is now, pending rainouts, rescheduling, and other strange happenings. As it stands now, the Cubs will play their 162 games just like everyone else, and the PECOTA …
Pre-Cactus League Cubs Position Player Group
It wasn’t that long after I wrote this that a few names came off the scrap heap list, but then the Cubs decided to do something for their bench bat after all: The Cubs have agreed to a contract with 40-year-old free agent Justin Turner, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Patrick Mooney of The Athletic notes that the deal is a …
The Scrap Heap*
This requires an asterisk because there are certain players remaining on the free agent market that could still be quite useful, but given the proximity to spring league play and the Cubs own accelerated schedule in preparation for their little jaunt to Japan, it makes sense to get most of the critical additions in camp before full squad reporting on …
2025 Pitch Meetings
Before the Cubs ramp up for spring training in a couple weeks, I had taken a look at the roster as it stands, and the many questions marks still to figure out for just the rotation alone. No matter if they are pitchers or position players, with so much time between now and the opening series in Tokyo, and so …
The Consolation Roster
For reasons that generally come back to the Dodgers being a really good team with lots of money, the Cubs lost out on a couple of would-be realistic targets that chose LA as their preferred destination. I suppose not coincidentally, the folks at MLBTR started pondering a salary cap (as are many folks in various discussions), not to mention rules …