I know AC (and others) are very antsy for the Cubs, and anyone in MLB for that matter, to stop their faux collusion and start spending already, but the calendar is the calendar and both the agents/players and the owners/front offices are in a staring contest at the moment before the Winter Meetings in a couple weeks. I was going …
Bending the Rules
Towards the end of the previous post, in between waiting for the Cubs (and really all of MLB) to show signs of life on the transactional front, AC and I started pondering how batters might mess with pitchers with the new pitch clock rule coming in 2023. As a reminder, in addition to the defensive shift restrictions and the larger …
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 …
Quick Cubs Roster Check
By the time this publishes the Cubs might decide to finally designate Jason Heyward for assignment, but for now he’s safe on the 40-man roster, which will likely also be updated soon: Per the prior status check, the roster should be at 36, but for some reason I’m counting 37, and if we remove Esteban Quiroz and Jared Young as …
Redefining Expectations Vs. The Flow of Stupid Money
We are at the lull between Major League Baseball contests, where winter leagues are not always accessible to the lay person, where we sit just under 100 days until spring training and 140ish days from Opening Day. While the GM meetings go forward in Vegas, we’ve already gotten a few snippets of what the Cubs are likely to do (at …
Cubs 8, Phillies 1
OSS: Javier Baez goes 4-4 and John Lackey continues to dominate. Three up: Javier Baez was 4-4 today with a double and the game-winning RBI in the 5th. He was worth just over a quarter of a win in WPA today (0.27). Myself and another commenter were complaining about Baez's approach early in this one. He could still clean the …
What if Jim Hendry Had Been Fired in October 2009?
If the Ricketts had fired Jim Hendry immediately upon taking ownership, what would the Cubs’ drafts have looked like in 2010 and 2011? Would Javier Baez have been a Cub?
Jed Hoyer during SABR GM panel
Jed Hoyer had some interesting things to say during the GM panel at SABR. ON THE ROLE OF SCOUTS Hoyer: "The scouts they know that I have an analytical bent, and that my bosses have that. The worst thing you can do is change their mindset. You're hiring them for their eyes and their instincts, and you want them to …
Curt Schilling: ‘Members of the [Red Sox] organization’ encouraged me to use PEDs
This might become a big deal. Curt Schilling, in a Wednesday interview on ESPN Radio, said toward the end of his tenure with the Red Sox he was encouraged to use performance-enhancing drugs by “members of the organization.” “At the end of my career, in 2008 when I had gotten hurt, there was a conversation that I was involved in …
The Next Generation of Cub Players and Plate Discipline
The Cubs Convention took place this past weekend. OV's own Aisle424 was present and will summarize his thoughts on it shortly (I think). In the meantime, Josh has already weighed in. Bruce Miles was all over the goings-on, as well, and his twitter feed is well worth checking out. A couple of highlights: Sveum: Campana "has a really hard time …