The Dexter Fowler era in Chicago is over. Long live the Dexter Fowler era. The Cubs plugged their center field hole today by signing former Cardinals and Padres outfielder Jon Jay to a one-year contract worth $8 million, effectively ending hopes that the club would shell out the simoleons for a Fowler return. He’ll back […]
Category: Articles
Player Profile: Albert Almora
Position: CF, OF 2016 Stats: .277/.308/.455, .267 TAv, 0.5 WARP Year in Review: If Theo Epstein could’ve planned out what 2016 would look like for Albert Almora before the year began, it would look something like this: he gets to spend a whole year at one level (Triple-A) and put some work in with the […]
An International Draft Serves Only the Owners
The Cubs’ World Series championship would not have been possible without the contributions of several international free agent signings. Six of the 25 players on the World Series roster arrived in American professional baseball as international free agents, and two of them (Willson Contreras and Jorge Soler) initially signed with the Cubs. While Contreras made […]
Player Profile: Hector Rondon
2016 Stats: 3.53 ERA/3.54 FIP/2.71 DRA, 1.3 WARP Year in Review: One of the stories that circulated during the Cubs’ World Series run was that before every game, Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop would dunk themselves in cologne and then take the field. On the surface, it sounded like a whimsical and eccentric superstition from […]
Travis Wood: Potential Offseason Target
Position: Left-Handed Reliever 2016 Stats: 61 IP, 18.7 K%, 9.5 BB%, 2.95 ERA, 5.75 DRA, -0.5 WARP How He Fits: Travis Wood was the longest-tenured Cub on the 2016 championship team, and he was arguably one of the leaders in establishing the team-first culture of flexibility that Joe Maddon instilled in Chicago upon arriving in […]
Player Profile: Miguel Montero
Position: Catcher 2016 Stats: .216/.327/.357, .257 TAv, 2.1 WARP Year in Review: Recency bias would have been kind to Miguel Montero if not for some surprising off-the-cuff remarks on the day of the World Series victory parade and rally a few weeks ago. What made them surprising was not so much that Montero had spoken so […]
Player Profile: Ben Zobrist
Ben Zobrist Position: Second base, occasional corner outfield 2016 Stats: .272/.386/.446, .306 TAv, 18 HR, 96 BB, 82 K, 631 PA, -9.4 FRAA, 4.1 WARP Year in Review: The Cubs front office had made it vehemently clear that in 2016 they desired a lineup with a strong, patient plate approach. It was almost hidden between the lines in […]
Chris Coghlan: Potential Offseason Target
Position: OF 2016 Stats: .188/.290/.310, .222 TAv, -.7 WAR Why he fits: On the surface, Chris Coghlan looks like he had a horrible 2016 season, but really it was a tale of two seasons for him. Heading into the year, Coghlan became a last minute roster casualty to make room for the signing of Dexter […]
Player Profile: Javier Baez
Position: 2B, 3B, SS, 1B, C, CF, SP 2016 Stats: .273/.314/.423, .275 TAv, 2.5 WARP Year in Review: Some people think that a little intoxication reveals your true personality. It isn’t that drinking turns you into a jerk per se, you just become more of who you really are. If that theory is true, then we’re all […]
MARK MELANCON: POTENTIAL OFFSEASON TARGET
Position: Right-Handed Reliever 2016 Stats: 71 1/3 IP, 24.1 K%, 4.4 BB%, 1.64 ERA, 2.91 DRA, 0.90 WHIP, 1.7 WARP The Cubs built their bullpen the last two seasons in a manner suggesting they almost viewed it as an afterthought. They had a scrap heap pickup for a closer in Hector Rondon. Setup men Pedro Strop, […]