Dakota Mekkes, RHP 2016 level: Arizona (Rookie), Eugene (A-) Drafted in the 10th round out of Michigan State, Mekkes was one of the better relievers taken in the 2016 draft. At 6’7″ and 250 pounds he’s an absolute monster, and he led the NCAA in K/9 in 2016. He’s all the more interesting because he doesn’t necessarily do […]
Category: Articles
Cubs 2016 Playoff Retrospective – World Series Edition
Now that the 2017 Cubs Convention has concluded, the last remaining stepping stone towards the day when pitchers and catchers report has been reached, and countdowns to 2017 Spring Training will soon start appearing on your local nightly news stations. But before we turn the page on the Cubs 2016 championship season (just kidding that […]
Prospect Day: The “Next Five”
To complement the main site releasing the Cubs’ top 10 prospects, the staff here has once again collaborated to bring you the 11th-15th best prospects in the Cubs’ system. Before you check out our conclusions below, head over to the main site to read Jeffrey Paternostro’s top 10 write-up of the best prospects in the system. […]
2017 Prospects: Chicago Cubs Top 10 Prospects
Last Year’s Cubs List The State of the System: Flags fly forever, baby! (It’s not very strong at the top, but there’s a lot of interesting young upside plays further down the list) The Top Ten OF Eloy Jimenez 2B/OF Ian Happ OF Albert Almora, Jr. RHP Trevor Clifton 3B Jeimer Candelario RHP Jose Albertos […]
Ricketts Family Reflects on Winning it All and What Comes Next
At the 32nd annual Cubs Convention this weekend, Tom and Laura Ricketts spent time with fans and media to share their experiences and feelings while watching the culmination of the work that started when they purchased the team nearly a decade ago. “My stomach is still setting,” Laura said, reflecting on the weeks of the […]
More C.U.B. Than Ever: Recipe for a Repeat
“I hope this is the beginning…if we do our jobs right and we stay humble and hungry, it’s going to be a beginning.” – Theo Epstein Humility has not traditionally been a concern on the north side. So when the leadership is casually throwing it around in the offseason, the stubbornly buoyant truth can finally […]
Ryne Sandberg and the Summer of ’89
To almost every Cub fan, Ryne Sandberg is most indelibly associated with the 1984 season–and for good reason. He won the MVP in a year where the Cubs advanced to the postseason for the first time since 1945. Statistically, it was his magnum opus as he accumulated a career-high 7.6 WARP. And there was that […]
Jon Lester: Projecting Baseball’s $155 Million Man
“You try to balance different factors. You wake up one day like ‘We’ve got to sign Lester,’ you wake up another day, ‘We’re never signing a pitcher in his thirties,’ and it’s an internal struggle. Jed and I had the back-and-forth with each other. We changed each other’s minds. It’s the process of getting the […]
C.J. Wilson: Potential Offseason Target
Pitching rotations can appear to be sure things when it’s the offseason or even when it’s spring training, but they have a nagging penchant for never finishing the same way that they started. Teams need depth in this way, and sometimes it comes from within the organization, and sometimes it must be acquired from without. The […]
Southpaw Roulette: Assessing the Cubs Left-handed Bullpen Options
At this point in the off-season, the Cubs have a pretty good idea what their roster might look like on Opening Day. While they might tinker on the fringes and try to get a bargain in January/February, I thought this would be a good time to evaluate the internal options for left-handed relief in the […]