One of the nice things about getting to a championship series is that everyone is paying attention. And, at least when Pedro Baez is pitching, there is plenty of time to survey the landscape. Revisiting the action while trying not to worry about Kershaw… On Howie Kendrick A. That’s not how defensive metrics work. B. Kendrick actually grades out as more …
Cubs Hot Stove 7.18.2016
With the deadline looming less than two weeks from today, the Cubs rumors are heating up. Theo and Jed Hoyer are almost assuredly going to make some kind of roster moves to improve the team. We’ve discussed in the comments quite extensively Andrew Miller and what we would/wouldn’t like to give up. Here are some updates: Andrew Miller is still …
Cubs sign Jason Hammel
It is not a common occurrence that a player re-signs with the team that just traded him (*cough* Jon Lester *cough*), but Jason Hammel is proof positive that it can happen. The Cubs signed Hammel to a 2-year, $18 million deal with an option that could bring the final tally to $28 million. As far as middle-tier pitching options go, …
MLB Draft: Live Thread, Day Two *UPDATES*
The 2014 Draft continues today, with the 3rd-10th rounds starting at noon. MLBN has the coverage again; I believe it’s strictly experts today (Jim Callis, John Manuel, Jonathan Mayo, etc..), so that’s nice. We will be following along here at OV. The most probable scenario is that this thread will just be updated with the Cubs’ picks, since they come …
Ten Reasons I’m Watching The 2014 Cubs
The last time I posted here, the dinosaurs roamed the earth the Cubs were still in the hunt for the NL pennant I swore I didn’t care about the 2014 Cubs. I said there would be no reason to watch the 2014 Cubs. I pretty much made it clear I wouldn’t so much as accidentally watch 10 seconds of the 2014 …
BP’s top 10 Cubs prospects + consensus Top 14 prospects
The BP list came out, and it's a great read. Here it is, but a sub is required. I recommend getting a subscription; it really is great work. I won't share any of the bits besides the Top 10 list: 1. Baez 2. Bryant 3. Almora 4. Soler 5. Edwards 6. Alcantara 7. Johnson 8. Vogelbach 9. Villanueva 10. Candelario …
Cubs’ Steamer Projections
While we wait for Tanaka to make a decision between choosing the Yankees today, or choosing the Yankees tomorrow, I took a look at how our offense performed relative to the league at each prediction. I then looked at who was projected to get the bulk of the starts at each position, and compared their Steamer projection to last year's …
The Cubs Are “Lucky”
Brett at the Nation had a good article about the Cubs' horrid luck this year, and so did frequent commenter on that site Dr. Wimsey. I agree with the main thrust of both arguments. However, I'm here to tell you it's the BEST thing that could have happened this year. The Cubs are, by rights, a .500 team by any …
Cubs Regression To The Mean
The Cubs have been an enigmatic team this year in a few ways. I was looking earlier for reasons to be optimistic about the Cubs, and I found some; however, the Cubs have been equally lucky in a few ways. The Cubs are 29th in the league in Offensive Batting Average on Balls In Play, with .265. That is a …