It happened! After months (that seemed like years) of speculation, the Cubs finally landed the prize of the 2018 free agent class, at least on the pitching end. Yu Darvish, the one-time Rangers phenom known for his insane, eight-pitch arsenal, one of the greatest pitching GIFs of all time, and, more recently, for his epic […]
Category: Articles
Cubs Add to Cadre of Aces, Nab Darvish
Our long National League nightmare is over. On Saturday afternoon, Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Cubs had signed free agent ace Yu Darvish to a six-year, $126 million contract, or $21 million in average annual value, breaking the months-long freeze on free agent contracts. There are incentives attached to the deal that could escalate its […]
Jason Heyward at Leadoff? Not As Far-fetched As You Think
As the discussion continues to persist over who will lead off these Chicago Cubs in 2018, there’s been some speculation that it could be Jason Heyward. Of course, this purely a hypothetical scenario and not likely something that the team is actively considering. However, given the right set of circumstances that would obviously feature a return […]
A Unified Theory of Contention Windows and Free Agent Pitching
Few teams have sounded the alarm indicating their move from rebuild to contention like the Cubs did in the winter of 2014. Coming off of a 73-win, last-place season, the Cubs made aggressive plans for the offseason, and they executed like the virtuosos they were: on November 4, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer nabbed Joe […]
The Cubs Have an Ace, or Three
After days blitzing Japanese Rosetta Stone to try to decipher the non-emoji parts of Yu Darvish tweets, I allowed myself to read some English words on Twitter. This is rarely a good idea. Most Cubs fans are psyched about the possible signing of Darvish, and for great reason! Adding Darvish—or Jake Arrieta—makes this an incredible […]
Could Free Agency Be the New Market Inefficiency for the Cubs?
One of the nice things about rooting for a team with as checkered a history as the Cubs possess is that it gives us a never-ending series of metaphors to describe the baseball winter of 2017-18. For instance… This slothful offseason has been like watching Hector Villanueva leg out a triple. The hot stove has […]
Quantifying the Cubs’ Quest to Control the Strike Zone
The ultimate match-up in baseball is the confrontation between the pitcher and the batter. And more than anywhere else, that battle is waged in and around the corners of the strike zone. Mindful of this, Cubs President Theo Epstein has preached that his team must “control the strike zone” in order to be successful ever […]
Would Realignment Help The Hot Stove?
Admittedly, the inactivity of the hot stove has led a lot of us to get lost in our own minds about why it might be. And there might not be a more dangerous gaggle of people to get lost in their own heads than baseball writers and analysts, at least in the sports world. This […]
The 2018 Draft Is Shaping Up to Be an Important One for the Cubs
On January 26th, baseball practice began for many NCAA Division I schools. In just two weeks, play will begin. Then, in just a little over four months, Major League Baseball will hold its annual amateur draft. The Cubs will have their first-round selection at number 24 and they will likely have two compensation picks between […]
Willson Contreras Believes What He Says
Two Fridays ago at the annual Cubs Convention, Willson Contreras made headlines when he brashly prophesied, “I know I’m going to be better than [Yadier Molina and Buster Posey]. That’s my plan. That’s my [mindset].” In other sports, such unabashed declarations of confidence in one’s own abilities are accepted, even lauded. But the traditionalist world of […]