It's hard to believe that February is here, which means pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Mesa in a couple weeks. The position players won't be far behind. It's particularly hard to believe because the Cubs didn't have an active offseason. Not once have I actually looked forward to watching Cubs baseball. I have looked forward to watching baseball, …
They’re called baseball players
Fans like to feel that they’re close with their favorite players. We refer to them by using only one name, talk about them endlessly, purchase merchandise with their name on it and we also congratulate and condemn them when we feel it necessary. If someone says something negative we stand up for them as we would for those closest to …
Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have been busy
The Cubs were having a rather quiet offseason until December 23rd when they traded Sean Marshall. In a span of one month they’ve traded Marshall, DJ LeMahieu, Tyler Colvin, Carlos Zambrano, Andrew Cashner and Kyung-Min Ha. All of them except Ha were on the team’s 40-man roster. A new front office trading current players is nothing new. On July 5, …
Does Zambrano trade tell us about a possible Soriano trade?
Since Carlos Zambrano was traded two days ago I think all Cubs fans have wondered what it might mean for Alfonso Soriano. The Cubs were willing to eat almost all of Zambrano’s contract in trading him. We know that Tom Ricketts has given Theo the go ahead and clean house even if it it requires the team to send truckloads …
What the Cubs have to consider at the Winter Meetings
We haven’t talked a lot about what the Cubs need to do this offseason. When the season ended they were without a GM so it made no sense. After they hired Theo and he assembled his front office it was difficult to know which direction the Cubs may go. There have been indications they’re willing to trade anybody and everybody, …
New CBA notes
We needed a new thread and I’ve been busy this weekend so you get a link to MLB Trade Rumors about the new CBA. minimum salary will increased from $414,000 to $480,000 next year and $500,000 after that. Super Two cutoff is now the 22% with the most service time between 2 and 3 years rather than 17% blood testing …
Cubs news and rumors
Manager MILWAUKEE — The Cubs will meet Wednesday with Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum about their vacant managerial position. Sveum was already scheduled to travel here to meet with the Red Sox about a their manager job. Chicago general manager Jed Hoyer said there is no favorite among the candidates and no deadline to select one. Hoyer and Theo Epstein, …
Relax, Cubs fans!
Brett on Bleacher Nation has done a fantastic job rounding up the Theo rumors over the past week. It’s been one of the few sites I even bother to check for info. It’s something that would drive most people mad seeing as how conflicting the reports are. The only quibble I have with any of the reporting has been how …
Compensation for Theo Epstein
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote that the compensation talks between the Red Sox and Cubs were set to begin soon. Apparently Ben Cherington has already been told he will be the new GM so Theo is gone from the Sox one way or another as I expected. There’s no take back here. While it’s been suggested here that …
Theo is a Cub so what next?
When the reports of Theo Epstein signing with the Cubs began to trickle in this morning (or actually last night), I started thinking about what it means in the short-term for the Cubs. The truth is that I, and you, have literally no idea. I wrote this before reading Aisle 424’s most recent article so there may be some similarities. …