I recall, nearly six months ago when the Cubs basically passed over every impact free agent save for Dansby Swanson (who was a consensus Plan B), we tried to figure out what the plan was even as the sound bytes were flying: The fear then was that this team would be hard pressed to go .500, but I guess most …
Cubs Opening Day 2023 Preview
Well, folks, after a month of generally entertaining (and brisk) Cactus League games, we have mere hours until first pitch on Opening Day at Wrigley Field. The Cubs will face off against the Milwaukee Brewers for a brief home opening series before they head on the road because schedules are wack, and while it is probably true that the Brewers …
A Winning Pitch (We Hope)
We’ve reached the phase right before Spring Training where it’s mostly claims and minor league contracts while the residue of the free agent barrel lingers until teams and agents finally settle on something. For all intents and purposes, the roster is set (very similar to what we did last time, minus some DFAs and outrights and what not) and the …
The Division is a Pipe Dream
Projections are just projections, and as they say, it’s in the hands of the players to play well and buck the narrative. Although it hasn’t been officially published yet, as we all surmised, the Cardinals are likely to repeat as NL Central division champs again: FanGraphs already has the projections for the other four teams in the division, including the …
Ate at Arby’s, On to the Next
Previously, we talked about the remaining arbitration-eligible Cubs and the impending deadline: That deadline has since passed, and you can see every arbitration case has been settled before they have to bring in the agents and front office bad-mouthers: Checking the Cots Contracts tracker, it would appear the Cubs are about $22MM below the first luxury tax threshold, and as …
Eat at Arby’s: Or Just a Quick Look at the Cubs Arbitration Guys
This Friday is the Cubs Convention, and also happens to be the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to submit their salary figures for 2023 (other key dates remain but this is probably the biggest one coming up). The gist is that if they can’t come to a compromise, the team submits one number, the player submits another, and then …
Cubs New Year’s Resolutions for 2023 and Beyond
Well, well, here we are at the end of 2022, and it’s been fun to hang out with all you jabronis here at Obstructed View, very much appreciate you letting me rant on a semi-regular basis about the Cubs and baseball. The Cubs, of course, have done what they could and/or wanted to since they missed out on a bunch …
Diving Into the Bargain Bin
The Cubs have probably finished building their roster via free agency for the most part, and we covered the biggest signing plus the basic plan for 2023 in our last podcast. Based on the official signings and Cots Contracts, the Cubs still have about $20MM to spend (if they choose to) before they hit the first luxury tax threshold, but …
Dreamcast 55: How the Cubs Saved Christmas
Hey everyone, happy holidays! The Cubs pulled off a last minute present just in time even if it wasn’t our first choice in signing Dansby Swanson. Among the various fun topics from AC’s various very good questions include: Please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and share us with your friends. Thanks for listening, and hope you get plenty …
Rhymes With Schmollusion
The Athletic (I think it was Evan Drellich) published a piece today about owners complaining that Steve Cohen is a rich bastard, and for those of us blocked by the paywall, this was the snippet that was being floated around: It actually is kind of hilarious when we basically know that there are something like 20 owners (including the bottom …