Cubs Might Have Some GM Competition Now and Other Bullets

The playoffs got underway yesterday in a fashion completely unrecognizable after Wednesday’s insane regular season finales. That is to say: boring. The Rays destroyed the Rangers behind uber-rookie Matt Moore (he’d made exactly one start in the bigs before yesterday), and the Tigers/Yankees tilt made it an inning and a half before the rains came. Yawn.

  • Tony Reagins stepped down as the Los Angeles Angels’ GM yesterday, which could have an impact on the Chicago Cubs’ GM search. Angels’ owner Arte Moreno is a real gunslinger who works very hard to get the guys that he wants. Undoubtedly, he’ll be looking at much of the same pool of candidates as the Cubs’ Tom Ricketts. As with free agents, competition is not a good thing when it comes to landing who you want, and not paying through the nose. Moreno is very involved on the baseball side, though, so it’s possible that some of the bigger names could be scared off. Then again, isn’t Tom Ricketts expected to be heavily involved on the baseball side as well?
  • The Orioles are also expected to be looking for a GM this Fall, for what it’s worth.
  • Speaking of GM candidates, Billy Beane is working the media to pressure Bud Selig and MLB to finally make a decision on the A’s opening a new stadium in San Jose. The failure to secure plans for a new ballpark is frequently cited as the leading reason Beane would consider leaving Oakland, so, if he’s successful, the Cubs can probably cross him off their list.
  • Roy Halladay went all Shakespeare yesterday when asked about the Cardinals’ impressive September run. “I came to bury Ceasar, not praise him,” Halladay said. Et tu, Fat Elvis?
  • The Cubs’ season in quotes, by Patrick Mooney. Yes, “we stinks” is in there, but no “now is not the time for bold changes.” Criminal.
  • About 10,000 fans are expected to show up to the first Wrigley Field Movie Night, featuring ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.’ Hooray! The Cubs can still make money in October!
  • A great read on the chances the Rays would make the playoffs and the Red Sox wouldn’t. Perhaps all you need to see is the chart:
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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