Among other rumors flying around, the big one that got everyone’s interest was this bit from Kaplan (and others): Whether you believe it is because the Cubs don’t want to deal with another season of losing/biblical losses, or that Papa Ricketts’ heart grew three sizes that day and Tom got an advance on his allowance, the consensus once again is …
2022 MLB Winter Meetings Reset
The Winter Meetings go from Sunday to Wednesday this week and I’m guessing plenty of texts and conversations have been conducted even before everyone arrives in San Diego. Ken Rosenthal on his Athletic mailbag podcast suggested that the new CBA seemed to give teams more confidence to spend, which accounts for the higher-than-usual price tags we’ve seen for the relievers, …
First Names Off the Board
Here we are, the week after Thanksgiving and before the Winter Meetings, and very little has happened not just for the Cubs, but for all of MLB. I think we don’t have to officially freak out until after the Winter Meetings have concluded, or maybe not even until Spring Training since the rhymes-with-schmollusion is delaying free agent deals in recent …
Dreamcast 53: Ode to an Overhaul
Berselius joined me tonight to talk some Cubs free agency (or at least we fantasized about spending all the Ricketts’ money) and we also built a relatively realistic dream team should Jed Hoyer remember how to be aggressive in building a good team we actually want to watch. Hopefully some signings happen soon after the Friday nontender deadline, lest the …
Do Something!
I think I want to see another few years of this version of the postseason before I start lobbying for one of AC’s fun ideas to change things up. What I am sure of, at this time, is that the NLCS was a lot of fun to watch. Even if I’ve been a little bored with three-true-outcomes baseball, when the …
The Still-Too-Early Cubs Free Agency Pitch
The postseason thus far has brought us plenty of fun and exciting moments and equally intense discourse, but generally, even if the best team doesn’t always win the World Series, getting a shot into the postseason field is the goal. So it makes sense to discuss how the 2023 Chicago Cubs will be constructed to pull off a purported upset …
OV Preliminary Free Agent Predictions
If you haven't yet entered the OV Free Agent Prediction Contest, there is still time! It closes the day after the World Series ends*, so get on it. There is much glory and a bobblehead at stake here, people! Here are good lists of free agent position players and pitchers. *Hopefully this happens ASAP. There are no good possible outcomes, …
The Ghosts of Free Agency Future
In the aftermath of the recently announced deal with the city to renovate Wrigley Field, Theo Epstein spoke to the media about its potential benefits to the team: Our payroll now is third in the division. That’s fine. But it should be first in the division. So this is one of the ways that we’re going to get there. It …