Baseball Prospectus can be a bit bold when ranking Cubs prospects. In 2015, they ranked Addison Russell at number one ahead of Kris Bryant. In 2015, BP placed Gleyber Torres first and followed that up with Eloy Jimenez last year. Heading into this year’s list, I figured that one of three prospects would grace the top of the list: Adbert […]
Category: Articles
Cubs Target Profile: Yu Darvish
The Cubs have snagged a trio of pitchers on the free agent market in the past week, adding Tyler Chatwood on a three-year, $38 million deal, Brandon Morrow on a two-year, $21 million contract, and Drew Smyly on a two-year deal. Morrow figures to receive a shot at the vacant closer’s role, while Chatwood assumes […]
Player Profile: Justin Wilson
Position: Left-handed Relief Pitcher 2017 Stats: 58.0 IP, 3.41 ERA/3.37 FIP/4.70 DRA, 90 cFIP, 12.4 K/9, 0.3 WARP Year in Review: The above stat line actually tells you almost nothing about Justin Wilson’s 2017 season, which started with promise in Detroit and ended with struggles in Chicago. Here’s how the performances looked when broken out by team: Detroit: 40.3 IP, […]
2017 Player Profile: Javier Baez
Position: 2B/SS 2017 Statistics: AVG OBP SLG HR TAv wRC+ FRAA WARP .273 .317 .480 23 .274 98 -7.4 2.3 Year in Review: As hard as it may be to believe, 2017 was really only Javier Baez’s second full season at the Major League level, as injuries and inconsistency had hampered him in the couple […]
Cubs Sign Brandon Morrow to Anchor Bullpen
The Cubs went and got themselves another pitcher Sunday afternoon in reliever Brandon Morrow. Morrow signed a two-year deal (which I like) with an option, and he fits the mold of a strike thrower (which Theo Epstein likes). Morrow pitched for the Dodgers last year as a setup man and could be the closer with the […]
For Chatwood, Chicago Offers Opportunity
Before Jerry Dipoto went and did that thing he does—in this case, dealing for Dee Gordon—the big news of the Thursday hot stove was Tyler Chatwood’s three-year, $38 million deal with the Cubs. Many were quick to point out Chatwood’s velocity, groundball rate, and relative youth as the primary factors in his big payday, and […]
Cubs Bolster Rotation, Ink Tyler Chatwood
The signing of Tyler Chatwood was not the news anyone was hoping or expecting to hear today. Chatwood, who will turn 28 next Saturday, inked a three-year $38 million deal with the Cubs today. Although that’s a pretty favorable contract for both Chatwood and the Cubs, signing a pitcher from Colorado is always a gamble, as their stats can be […]
2017 Player Profile: Carl Edwards Jr.
Position RP 2017 Stats IP K% BB% HR/FB% ERA DRA BABIP GB% 66 1/3 35.9% 14.5% 13.3% 2.98 2.70 .193 46% Year in Review If you want the abridged version of Carl Edward’s Jr.’s season, look at the final two batters he faced. Edwards made Chris Taylor look silly, striking him out on three straight […]
Kris Bryant and Ryne Sandberg’s 1985 Season
When Kris Bryant won the 2016 NL MVP, he was quickly welcomed to the club by Ryne Sandberg in an Instagram photo that could only be captioned “Two Cub legends pose for a Wes Anderson film.” And after Bryant completed his follow-up season, it turned out that the two of them had a lot more […]
2017 Player Profile: Kris Bryant
Position: Third base, occasionally outfield 2017 Stats: .295/.409/.537, 29 HR, 6.6 WARP Year in Review: For most of 2017, the narrative surrounding Kris Bryant was that he was enduring a down year following his 2016 MVP season. For good measure, some of Cubs Twitter spent most of the summer looking at his 73 RBI and his […]