When Javy Baez exploded into the national consciousness in the 2016 MLB playoffs, many Cubs fans chuckled. We had blissfully marinated in Baez’s sensational defensive play for the better parts of 2014, 2015, and 2016. My favorite play? When Baez deked the Dodgers’ baserunners by letting the soft liner drop in front of him for […]
Category: Articles
Cubs Add Good Tweets, Pitching Upside with Anderson
The Cubs’ offseason outlook was that of staid, minor change, and the club mostly accomplished their modest goals by the time the holiday season rolled around. A little Jon Jay to thicken up center field, a tiny bit of Brian Deunsing for lefty reliever flavor, and a dash of back-end bullpen help for spiciness (Oops! […]
The 1920 Cubs Helped Elect Warren G Harding
Last Monday, January 16th, the World Series Champion (because it never gets old) Chicago Cubs donned their finest apparel and headed to the White House to meet President Obama. Nestled amongst the many jokes between Chicago comedians Theo Epstein and Barack Obama, the former offered the latter a gateway into Cubs fandom in the form […]
The Effect of Manny Ramirez in Iowa
The 2016 World Series champions weren’t built in a day. Kris Bryant’s near-errant throw to Anthony Rizzo capped off an assembly of parts that all needed to come together in order for a 108-year drought to end. There are the key parts, like new ownership, a new front office, a new manager, free agent additions like […]
Rotation To Rotation – The Injury Cannon Is Here?
If you’re like me, you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the exact reasons why the Cubs won the World Series. It’s strange, because if they hadn’t we would have spent all winter tearing apart every little mythological sinew and fiber looking for what went wrong, all the way down to what they ate […]
Deploying Kyle Schwarber in 2017
On the surface, Joe Maddon’s lineup card should seem like a relatively easy one to fill out. You have the bulk of a World Series champion returning, with plenty of youth and a now-healthy Kyle Schwarber who will slot into Dexter Fowler’s spot at the top, at least to start. But with such a versatile […]
Clifton and Albertos Are Signs of a Healthy System with Depth, Upside
Earlier this week, Jeff Paternostro released BP’s top-10 Cubs prospects, and many of the expected players peppered the list. At the top were Eloy Jimenez, Ian Happ, and Albert Almora (who has not yet lost prospect status), further down we saw Jeimer Candelario, Dylan Cease, Oscar de la Cruz, and Eddy Julio Martinez. There were […]
Do the Cubs Have Any Viable Extension Candidates?
On Monday, news broke that the Royals had signed Danny Duffy, 28, to a five-year extension worth $65 million dollars. Coming off by far the best year of his career (Duffy put up 3.8 WARP and a cFIP of 91), the Royals locked him up to what seems to be a fairly team-friendly deal. Duffy—who […]
Internal and External Options for Cubs’ Sixth-Man
As the Chicago Cubs look to repeat as World Series champs, they are currently seeking a little extra help in the starting rotation. With Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, John Lackey and Mike Montgomery as the expected starting five, the need isn’t urgent, but adding quality depth now could be the difference between another […]
Jason Heyward Must Seize the Means of Production
[NOTE: Social media videos are hyperlinked, not embedded, for ease of navigation.] There is a smoldering crater where Jason Heyward’s 2016 was supposed to be. Line them up: a series of solid .285-ish TAv seasons, highlighted by moderate power, stolen base totals in the 20s, and league-best fielding gave way to a vast chasm of […]