There are good reasons to have this conversation, but I’m not at all convinced that chopping teams is the answer.

We’ve got ourselves a bit of a roller coaster here.

The kind of guy who might not jump out at you on paper, but the Cubs were probably smart to protect.

Yo. That’s a huge contract, and the catching market is MOVING.

Shogo Akiyama looks like a good fit for the Cubs, but how much production can you actually project?

There seems to be a lot less flexibility to talk about financial issues than we thought. Also: so the Cubs didn’t make a trade last night.

Two expected, one 50/50, and one pleasant surprise.

If catchers are already going to start signing, then the pressure is going to be on the Cubs to explore the trade market.

Kind of an odd rumor/suggestion. I don’t think there’s a team out there in a better spot to need Kimbrel (at his rate) than the Cubs.

It is *of course* extremely unlikely, and comes with all kinds of moving parts, but it’s still interesting to hear.

Every team needs to be looked at. And also, the Astros need to be hammered.

Loaded set of Cubs Bullets this morning. Big day around the game, bizarre expansion idea, and much more.

Today is the day, and Miller might be the toughest call the Cubs make.

The Braves have done more than twice as much (literally) than the rest of the league combined. Also: the relief market is thin.

Tomorrow is a big day on the roster side of things, and it will spur some activity around the league.

If the Pirates unload, Frazier is certainly a different *type* of hitter than the Cubs feature.

This Houston sign-stealing scandal remains extremely wild.

By all accounts, the Cubs made a very good – and “annoying” to the Cardinals – hire.

We know about Shogo Akiyama, but are the Cubs also looking at a Japanese slugger? Sounds like yes, though the fit is tough.

Don’t you disparage Soriano!

Does Zack Short need protection this week? Or does the presence of two other infielders sufficiently mitigate the risk?

It’s a price tag that is a bit too high for a bench guy, which means Akiyama is definitely pricing himself as a starter.

Andujar has tons of upside in his bat and is still pre-arb, but he also had shoulder surgery last year. Oh, and also, Schwarber might be a monster.

Can the Cubs roster a guy who was so thoroughly crushed by lefties at AAA? Yeah, actually. Maybe so.

Jeter is a lock, but beyond that, it’s going to be debatin’ season.

How much of an upgrade for the Cubs would Shogo Akiyama actually be? Also, there are even more starting pitchers coming to the market.

That’s often how this works. There is a lot of interest in Gray, a guy we really would love to see the Cubs go after.

I sure still don’t like it one bit.

If you’re that brazen, it just leads people to wonder what else you were doing.

It was just a firm part of the Astros’ culture. This was all normal to them.

Don’t expect the Cubs to dump Almora just yet.

Pitchers will get longer breaks. Still have to talk the Cubs into using the IL for position players, though.

Well that certainly escalated.

I don’t think the Astros are getting off light on this. And the rest of the league is on high alert.

Darvish not only offers very useful thoughts on the substance of the matter, but also has such a positive attitude about the experience.

GET IT DONE WITH EL MAGO, PLEASE AND THANKS.

Youth, upside, expected price tag, durability … Pomeranz is the guy.