Regarding the state of the Cubs entering the December 2017 Winter Meetings, one should probably start with the elephant in the room. Given his monthly paycheck, Jason Heyward will play every day or at least the days that can’t be justified as “rest,” and so the question becomes, where do you play your weakest hitter? […]
I knew they would trade Eloy, because that’s their MO, as long as they have a chance at the playoffs. The minor-league pitcher surprised me, because he’s supposed to be a stud and they need pitching, but Epstein tries not to rely on pitching prospects. So it was all inevitable once you appreciate Epstein’s boldness. […]
With the Cubs’ minor-league teams approaching the halfway mark (around seventy games), here are two predictions: Tell me who the Cubs’ two best prospects are and I will tell you that they will be traded before the deadline. I’m referring to position prospects only. The Cubs certainly won’t be trading Dylan Cease. It’s arms like […]
Lester, Hendricks, Davis, maybe Edwards. You see any other good pitchers on this team? Any on the way? The Cub brass needs a deal like the ones that once netted them Schilling and Beckett. I think that’s going to be their MO just like is was in Boston, because McLeod can draft hitters all day […]
My list of Cub untouchables would be the guys who could be crazy-great, you’re just not sure (and the GM on the other side knows it), and so you’re liable to sell a little low and conclude a trade that you will regret later on. Schwarber is in that category, partly because of the injury […]
The word in the Sun-Times this morning, going into the third day of the winter meetings, is that the Cubs want to sign Jason Heyward and then offer Soler to the Braves in exchange for a controllable young flamethrower like Miller or Teheràn. Meanwhile, there are reportedly talks with the Rays involving Javier Baez and […]
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Posted 08 December 2015
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Tagged: cael brockmeyer, chris bosio, eloy jimenez, gleyber torres, javier baez, jeimer candelario, jorge soler, kris bryant, kyle schwarber, mike borzello, tim cossins, willson contreras
There’s a lot of excitement about the Cubs’ acquiring toolsy shortstop Addison Russell, who is at or near the top of a couple of major prospect lists; and while I’m excited along with everybody else, it still sticks in my mind that, not very long ago in 2012, when the new front office conducted its […]
I buy into the current Cubs’ front-office’s promises to build a championship-caliber team in due course, and am on-board with their timetable for success, even if it means enduring another uncompetitive season. But as the proprietor of a blog that has followed the progress of Cub prospects for going on six years now, I recognize […]
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Posted 18 April 2014
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Tagged: al alburquerque, andrew cashner, angel pagan, arismendy alcantara, brandon guyer, brett jackson, brian schlitter, chris archer, d.j. lemahieu, dale sveum, dan vogelbach, darwin barney, hak-ju lee, james russell, jason mcleod, javier baez, jed hoyer, jeff samardzija, jim adduci, jim henderson, josh donaldson, josh harrison, josh vitters, jr., junior lake, marwin gonzalez, matt garza, oneri fleita, rich harden, robinson chirinos, rubi silva, ryan buchter, ryan flaherty, sam fuld, shawon dunston, starlin castro, theo epstein, tony campana, welington castillo, zac rosscup, zeke devoss
In a two-team baseball town like Chicago, there are always going to be sports columnists who are fifth columnists with respect to one or the other team. Last week, Phil Rogers sided with Boston on the question of how much compensation the Cubs owe the Red Sox. There would be howls all around if Jackson […]
After consulting, apparently, the Mayan calendar, baseball’s cognoscenti determined that Sunday, July 31st, would be the end of the world for the Chicago Cubs, coinciding with the major-league trading deadline; or, less metaphorically, that the Cubs’ GM would dispose of every remotely tradeable player on the team just before being disposed of himself. Management would […]
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Posted 07 August 2011
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Hendry § prospect § Quade § soriano
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Tagged: alfonso soriano, aramis ramirez, brandon guyer, brett jackson, carlos pena, darwin barney, geovany soto, jeff beliveau, jim hendry, marlon byrd, mike quade, ryan flaherty, starlin castro, tim wilken, tyler colvin