The Chicago Cubs lost two out of three to open the season – despite scoring 28 runs – but at least they did it against an AL West team. We’re all obviously ticked off by the poor start to the season – a season that was supposed to be defined by urgency – but I can imagine it being worse.
The Braves, for example, are planning on contending in a loaded NL East division this year, but started the season out with three straight losses to the division-rival Phillies. And the Cardinals lost three of four to the Brewers to open things up. That all probably hurts a little more.
Of course, as Cubs fans, those three Brewers wins are almost just as bad – at least, in terms of annoying me. The Cardinals might forever be the Cubs’ true rivals, but the Brewers stole the division last year in a tie-breaking game at Wrigley Field, and Christian Yelich beat out Javy Baez for MVP. And what happens this season? The Brewers get all the fun out of the gate. Lorenzo Cain robbed a home run to win a game, Christian Yelich hit a two-run, walk-off double, and they’ve already beaten the Cardinals three times.
You can't "create" whatever natural talent Yelich has, but man alive, I hope every analyst in the Cubs' organization is studying what he's doing with a ravenous intensity, because it is impossible. And yet he's doing it.
As FullCountTommy pointed out on Twitter, Yelich has a 49.2% home run to fly ball ratio over his last 308 plate appearances. The record for a player with a minimum of 300 PAs in a single season? Ryan Howard in 2006 and it wasn’t even particularly close (39.5%). Seriously. I’m going to need a puke bag.
Christian Yelich has 40 HRs from his last 110 fly balls, dating to the start of last season.
Since 7/20 (post All-Star Break), he has 29 HRs in his last 59 fly balls. https://t.co/rY6EYBpGXw
The Braves might not have been taking their beating at the hands of the Phillies well, because reliever Shane Carle was ejected for throwing at Rhys Hoskins right after Bryce Harper launched a home run. It’s not entirely clear if it was on purpose, but it sure sounds like some people think it was. The NL East is going to be an absolute battleground this year. That should be fun to watch.
Through his first 13 plate appearances, Harper has two homers, a double, and four walks. Good for him.
Rockies first baseman – and former Cub – Daniel Murphy is heading to the Injured List with a fractured index finger. There is not yet a timetable for the return: “I think I’ve got a fracture in it, so if I’m not mistaken, I’m supposed to go see a hand specialist on Monday,” said Murphy, who joined the team in December on a two-year, $24 million contract. “It was sore. I was able to finish the game and take some at-bats. I came in today, got an X-ray of it, and it ended up being, from what I understand, what we were hoping it wasn’t.”
If you missed it, the Red Sox handed out another big extension recently, signing shortstop Xander Bogaerts to the TENTH deal of $100M or more in the last six weeks. We discussed it here. According to Jeff Passan, in the five months since the beginning of free agency, teams have committed roughly $4 billion – with a “B” – to players in future salaries. Also according to Passan, that’s a new record. HOWEVA, that doesn’t actually mean baseball is fixed and free agency is no longer a problem. Passan runs through a series of very important caveats, including a not on the high concentration of dollars at the top: “more than half the money spent this winter went to 10 players.” It’s a good read that helps clear up some of the existing confusion these massive extensions have brought – the sort of confusion MLB teams do not hate at all.
This sounds like a really great idea:
The MLBPA is announcing today multiple staff changes & additions, including a new position to work with players & agents on the growing use of analytics by clubs negotiating player contracts.https://t.co/g70Ys49DEEpic.twitter.com/A5EWfzM6mq
There’s no doubt – and it’s no surprise – that teams have had the upper hand in this respect, because unlike player agencies, a large portion of their job is to evaluate players more effectively than anyone else in the world. If the MLBPA can get some of those minds on their side, players may stand a better chance defending themselves.
Back on February 25th, new Reds pitcher Alex Wood, who came over in a trade with the Dodgers, experienced some back stiffness and was forced to start the season on the IL because of it. Originally, the target return date was mid-April, and although there haven’t actually been any setbacks Reds Manager Dave Bell is now calling that timeline “a little aggressive.” By all accounts, Wood is progressing, but is simply going to need time to build up arm strength like every pitcher does during Spring Training – not unlike the issues for Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel.
I don’t know if there’s anything more embarrassing in baseball than getting thrown out at first base from right field. I know it’s not always within a player’s control, but it just always looks so bad (and hilarious):
Everybody else was doing it, so I thought I would go ahead and get sick. As a treat. Pitchers and catchers officially report tomorrow, marking the nominal beginning of Spring Training. The Cubs' roster may or may not be complete at this point, but you'd strongly prefer not to make any dramatic changes once things really really get rolling - it just seems like more times than not, you see...
As expected, the Chicago Cubs today announced their non-roster invites to big league Spring Training. The full list is below, with the reminder that these are the NON-40-MAN players who are coming to big league camp. So if you're wondering where someone obvious is, pretty good bet they're on the 40-man, so, yes, they'll be there. You know the minor league deal veterans already, but there are a host of...
There's not a whole lot doing yet today on the Alex Bregman front, but there are a few updates to share, at least. First, from Bruce Levine, who says the Cubs are still working at it and seems to imply that some members of the organization might be trying to convince other members of the organization that a certain level of deal is worth it or not: Cubs remain in...
The Athletic did a thing where they picked an available free a gent for each of the 30 MLB teams, and although I want to underscore that there's no "rumor" here, I did find the selection for the Cubs to be sufficiently interesting to merit a discussion. Particularly after going through the entire collection of bullpen options for the Cubs yesterday and noting how few of them throw lefty. Which...
The many, many pre-2025 Chicago Cubs top-X-number-of-prospects lists have dropped the last couple weeks - MLB Pipeline is the only major one we're still waiting on - and if you haven't seen all or any of them, I thought I'd round them up here. I also have some thoughts. Baseball America dropped its full slate of top-30s for each organization: https://bsky.app/profile/baseballamerica.com/post/3lh22jl2hct2v No huge surprises on the list for the Cubs,...
I feel like a genius and an idiot: for *YEARS* I have loved peanut butter sauce as an ice cream topping, but you can't get it everywhere, and there's basically no good take-home variety. So I get it when I can get it, and otherwise am just sad. BUT THEN LAST NIGHT I WAS LIKE DUH I CAN MAKE MY OWN AT HOME! I've got this powdered peanut butter protein,...
A few Alex Bregman bits to chew on as you settle down for the night ... Jon Heyman tonight writes that although Bregman is receiving "creative short-term offers," he and Scott Boras are still looking for six+ years. That tracks with Bob Nightengale's reporting earlier today. Heyman adds that the Astros actually have come up some amount from their offer from earlier in the offseason (reportedly six years and $156...
The Chicago Cubs, ostensibly still in the market for a free-agent third baseman, will watch one option fall off the board tonight. Former White Sox third baseman - and offseason Cubs target - Yoan Moncada is reportedly signing a modest deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Yoan Moncada to the Angels Ken Rosenthal reports the deal on X as a one-year, $5 million contract. https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1887654549227512106 Moncada, still just 29, is...
Given the Ryan Brasier trade potentially capping off the Chicago Cubs' bullpen moves for the offseason, and given how much movement there has been in that group this offseason, I thought it worth a reset just to see where the Cubs stand. How many arms do they have available now for the bullpen group? How many can be moved up and down? Who is fighting for a roster spot? You...
Based on some scattered quotes from ownership — as well as where Jed Hoyer's front office wound up last season — our initial expectation for the Cubs 2025 payroll was right around the first tier of the luxury tax threshold (up to $241M this year). But then, around mid-winter, those expectations changed. Supported by their cost-saving activity in free agency and especially trade, some new reporting/speculating led us to believe that...
The 2025 NFL Draft is 75 days away. As of right now, the Chicago Bears have eight picks — including four in the top 75. How this team goes about using its picks remains to be determined. And while what happens in free agency will go a long way toward determining how the Bears move on NFL Draft Weekend, it is never too early to look at what league insiders, analysts,...
Day 34 of the Chicago Bears offseason. My friend Jim shared this recipe for Oreo Bourbon Balls, which he says are the ultimate no-bake treat. It sure as heck seems like this would be the perfect thing to whip up quickly in a pinch for a Super Bowl party. Some somber news at the top with the Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs reporting on the death of former Bears coach Dick...
I am coming around to the idea of Ashton Jeanty lining up next to Caleb Williams in the Chicago Bears backfield. Don't get it twisted. I know the Bears have needs in the trenches on both sides of the line of scrimmage. But if General Manager Ryan Poles can plug those holes in March when free agency opens its doors, then it could open things up for the team to...
The nightmare that was the 2024 Chicago Bears season is over. Before the transactional period starts and the roster changes begin, we will recap the seasons of most of the 53-man roster. Next up: We're looking at the 2024 season of quarterback Caleb Williams. Caleb Williams' 2024 Snapshot Caleb Williams' rookie season is in the books, featuring no shortage of peaks and valleys. Williams' rookie numbers weren't just the best...
The NFL moved so quickly during Super Bowl Week that Myles Garrett's trade request feels like it happened forever ago. Of course, we know it didn't happen forever ago. This week started with a bang as the Cleveland Browns star pass rusher put in a formal trade request, which shot to the top of the list of offseason storylines we are looking forward to watching unfold. But one thing we...
The biggest storyline of this NFL season is the Kansas City Chiefs' pursuit of a historic third consecutive Super Bowl victory. Even if they fall short in Super Bowl LIX, they have already made history as the first team to win two straight Super Bowls and return to a third in a row. No team has ever won three straight Super Bowl titles, though the Green Bay Packers won three...
The nightmare that was the 2024 Chicago Bears season is over. Before the transactional period starts and the roster changes begin, we will recap the seasons of most of the 53-man roster. Next up: We're looking at the 2024 season of Tremaine Edmunds. Tremaine Edmunds' 2024 Snapshot There were many things to be frustrated with during the 2024 season, and Tremaine Edmunds was often on my list. Edmunds finished the...
With the Super Bowl just a couple of days away, I polled the writers at Bleacher Nation to see who they have winning Sunday's contest, and we're leaning Kansas City, but this will no doubt be the Chiefs' tallest task during their road to a potential three-peat. Here's how the Bleacher Nation staff sees Super Bowl LIX playing out on Sunday: Luis C. Medina Eagles 24, Chiefs 23 MVP: Saquon...
Day 33 of the Chicago Bears offseason. We made it to the first Friday of February. Huzzah! I need to get my Super Bowl menu in order. And I'm sure you do, too. My friend Jim offered up the suggestion of these buffalo chicken wontons, which appear to be DELICIOUS. More condolences from around the league after Virginia McCaskey's passing: The Packers send their deepest condolences to the McCaskey and...
We're just over 48 hours from the Super Bowl on Sunday in New Orleans. Still, there's plenty to discuss around the league, including the NFL Honors results, the Pro Football Hall of Fame's newest class, the passing of Virginia McCaskey, and more in today's NFL Notes. The Football World Mourns the Passing of Virginia McCaskey Virginia Halas McCaskey, the majority owner and matriarch of the Chicago Bears, passed on Thursday...
It only feels right that the Chicago Bulls' first game after the trade deadline will pit them against the new-look Golden State Warriors. After weeks upon weeks of rumors connecting the Western Conference squad to Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, they snubbed the Bulls in favor of their former franchise centerpiece. I'm sure most of us expected Butler to come out motivated, but kicking off this new era where it...
Chicago Bulls fans didn't get many answers at this trade deadline, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Confronted with a seemingly confused group of local reporters on Thursday afternoon, Arturas Karnisovas was pressed about the organization's philosophy. He fielded repeated questions about their failure to accumulate additional assets and the franchise's sense of urgency to improve their lottery odds ahead of a wildly praised 2025 NBA Draft. The...
In a twist of fate that will only further irk Bulls fans, Jimmy Butler is expected to make his Warriors debut on Saturday night at the United Center. Butler, of course, was traded by the Heat to the Warriors a night before the trade deadline. He also agreed to a two-year, $121 million contract extension with Golden State shortly after the deal was announced. https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1887698672286376408 Jimmy Butler's Return A Stark...
The Chicago Bulls served as a generous portion of Nothing Pie during each of the last three NBA trade deadlines. This year, the slice at least had some whipped cream on top. I'm not going to go as far as saying that Arturas Karnisovas deserves credit for moving on from Zach LaVine, but it was a box that desperately needed to be checked. The problem is that making that move...
The trade deadline came and went yesterday without any additional moves by the Bulls. Obviously, they were able to deal Zach LaVine for a somewhat underwhelming return on Sunday. But hey, at least they were finally taking the leap and selling off pieces, right? Guess again! While moving on from Zach LaVine was an unfortunate but necessary decision, the handling of the rest of the roster felt like yet another...
I had a fresh bouquet ready to deliver to the Chicago Bulls' offices at the Advocate Center on Thursday afternoon. Instead, a singular tulip petal has been left at reception. Arturas Karnisovas roped everybody in when finally striking a deal for two-time All-Star Zach LaVine. Joining the De'Aaron Fox trade to San Antonio, the return left a little to be desired but still handed the Bulls some much-needed future flexibility....
The NBA trade deadline has come and gone! After a chaotic last couple of days, things quieted down a bit on the actual deadline day. However, while we didn't get the most active last few hours, this ended up being one of the wildest trade deadline seasons in recent memory. It's hard to recall as many in-season trades involving players of the magnitude that we saw shipped elsewhere this season....
Sitting 41-10 and at the top of the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers are going for it. ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the Cavaliers have acquired De'Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks. The deal will see Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, three second-round picks, and two swaps. Hunter is in the thick of a career year, averaging 19.0 points and 3.9 rebounds per game off the bench. https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1887572277761343556 Cavaliers Land De'Andre...
Despite some indications that the trade waters have settled around the United Center, the Chicago Bulls continue to come up in rumors just hours before Thursday's 2:00 p.m. CT deadline. Nikola Vucevic remains the primary focus. While the big man told reports following Chicago's loss to Minnesota that he expects to wake up in Chicago on Friday morning, he found himself linked to the Golden State Warriors again hours later....
*walks into bunker, turns on megaphone, blares air horn* UP AND AT 'EM, CADETS! MAN YOUR STATIONS, CADETS! SOUND THE ALARM! TURN ON SHAMS CHARANIA'S NOTIFICATIONS! TRADE DEADLINE DAY IS HERE! While I've done no research to back this up, I still feel confident declaring this the craziest NBA trade deadline ever. We have had multiple All-Star players on the move, headlined by a Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade...
“He’s hotter than burnt toast.” That's how Seth Jones described Ryan Donato after his first career four-point game last night. Donato has been so good all year; his work ethic is precisely what you want young players to emulate when they get to the NHL. Seeing him get the rewards in the box score for working his ass off is great. But it presents a tough decision for the Blackhawks'...
The first seven minutes of this game were melatonin on ice. But then Alex Vlasic made something happen and the Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead... which they held for a whopping 19 seconds. Thankfully, the Blackhawks got the lead back almost exactly six minutes later and held onto it until the end of the first period. The Blackhawks killed a penalty to open the second period and cashed in on...
The Blackhawks have two games -- in two days -- left before the 4 Nations Face-Off break and things got a lot harder with the loss of Jason Dickinson on Wednesday night. Both games are against struggling division rivals, so we'll see if the Hawks can put together a full 60-minute game tonight and get a win against a Predators team that's massively underwhelming after a big summer. Broadcast Info...
The Blackhawks play their final home game before the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tonight with the Nashville Predators in town. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks will have to face a team that, despite their awful record, is still offensively gifted with names like Stamkos and Forsberg out there. And the Blackhawks will have to do it without Jason Dickinson. We got some relatively encouraging news on Dickinson on Thursday,...
So we'll just go ahead and get the Friday party started with the topic du jour in Chicago and beyond in the hockey world lately. Let's all criticize Connor Bedard! Over the weekend, Mark Messier hopped on ESPN and threw some shade at Bedard. He went as far as to say the Blackhawks should take ice time away from Bedard because of what Messier perceived as less-than-full effort defensively on...
The Blackhawks practiced on Thursday afternoon after their tough overtime loss to Edmonton late on Wednesday night. Not on the ice: veteran center Jason Dickinson, who suffered what appeared to be a nasty injury during the second period. Dickinson was seen leaving the United Center in a walking boot. The hope was that the severity wasn't as bad as it certainly looked when he left the ice with assistance. After...
On Thursday morning, Elliotte Friedman dropped a loaded written version of his "32 Thoughts" and there are some good Blackhawks-centric nuggets in there. Here's what got my attention: Blackhawks trade buzz I noted in my bullets this morning that there were 14 teams represented in the press box scouting the Blackhawks-Oilers game. Friedman notes a light schedule and the looming two-week break meant there was plenty of attention in Chicago...
The Blackhawks lost a hard fought game to the Oilers in overtime last night. They showed a lot of mettle, battling back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to tie the game late. But a bad penalty in overtime cost them the second point in the standings. The result of the game last night isn't much of a concern if we're honest. What is a major concern is...
We're now into February, and Blackhawks prospects continue to put up solid numbers across college hockey. There are some really good ranked matchups this weekend, with Denver and Providence both playing important conference matchups. And, Monday night, Boston University will face Boston College in a hyped Beanpot championship game. Here's this weekend's schedule for the Blackhawks' prospects in action. And, again, make sure you vote every day for one of...
The good news when a game starts at almost 9 PM local is the first period flew by and neither team scored. With a little under eight minutes left in the first period, this ridiculous sequence by Arvid Söderblom and Connor Murphy kept the game tied at zeroes. Oh my Arvid Soderblom, what a saveMurphy helps out too with a stop of his own pic.twitter.com/Wu11sUNd07— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) February 6, 2025...
Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL.
In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy.
You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami
Everybody else was doing it, so I thought I would go ahead and get sick. As a treat. Pitchers and catchers officially report tomorrow, marking the nominal beginning of Spring Training. The Cubs' roster may or may not be complete...
As expected, the Chicago Cubs today announced their non-roster invites to big league Spring Training. The full list is below, with the reminder that these are the NON-40-MAN players who are coming to big league camp. So if you're wondering...
There's not a whole lot doing yet today on the Alex Bregman front, but there are a few updates to share, at least. First, from Bruce Levine, who says the Cubs are still working at it and seems to imply...
The Athletic did a thing where they picked an available free a gent for each of the 30 MLB teams, and although I want to underscore that there's no "rumor" here, I did find the selection for the Cubs to...
The many, many pre-2025 Chicago Cubs top-X-number-of-prospects lists have dropped the last couple weeks - MLB Pipeline is the only major one we're still waiting on - and if you haven't seen all or any of them, I thought I'd...
I feel like a genius and an idiot: for *YEARS* I have loved peanut butter sauce as an ice cream topping, but you can't get it everywhere, and there's basically no good take-home variety. So I get it when I...
A few Alex Bregman bits to chew on as you settle down for the night ... Jon Heyman tonight writes that although Bregman is receiving "creative short-term offers," he and Scott Boras are still looking for six+ years. That tracks...
The Chicago Cubs, ostensibly still in the market for a free-agent third baseman, will watch one option fall off the board tonight. Former White Sox third baseman - and offseason Cubs target - Yoan Moncada is reportedly signing a modest...
Given the Ryan Brasier trade potentially capping off the Chicago Cubs' bullpen moves for the offseason, and given how much movement there has been in that group this offseason, I thought it worth a reset just to see where the...
Based on some scattered quotes from ownership — as well as where Jed Hoyer's front office wound up last season — our initial expectation for the Cubs 2025 payroll was right around the first tier of the luxury tax threshold (up...
The fifth-place team in the Bundesliga, RB Leipzig, hosts 14th-place FC St. Pauli on Sunday at 11:30 AM ET.Watch Bundesliga matches on Fubo! Use our link to sign up now.RB Leipzig vs. FC St. Pauli TV & Live Stream InfoWhen:...
Real Sociedad (11th) and Espanyol (17th) face one another on Sunday at 12:30 PM ET, in a matchup between two clubs in the bottom half of LaLiga.Watch LaLiga matches on Fubo! Use our link to sign up now.Real Sociedad vs....
US Lecce (13th in Serie A) and Bologna (eighth) meet at Via del Mare on Sunday at 12:00 PM.Watch Serie A matches on Fubo! Use our link to sign up now.US Lecce vs. Bologna TV & Live Stream InfoWhen: Sunday,...
Strasbourg (ninth) and Montpellier HSC (18th) meet Sunday at 11:15 AM ET, two clubs in opposite halves of the table in Ligue 1.Watch Ligue 1 matches on Fubo! Use our link to sign up now.Strasbourg vs. Montpellier HSC TV &...
Ligue 1's 10th-place team, Toulouse FC, visits 11th-place AJ Auxerre on Sunday at 11:15 AM ET.Watch Ligue 1 matches on Fubo! Use our link to sign up now.AJ Auxerre vs. Toulouse FC TV & Live Stream InfoWhen: Sunday, February 9,...
The 2025 NFL Draft is 75 days away. As of right now, the Chicago Bears have eight picks — including four in the top 75. How this team goes about using its picks remains to be determined. And while what happens...
The Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions (4-18, 1-8 SWAC) are 7.5-point underdogs as they try to break a 14-game road losing streak when they square off against the Alcorn State Braves (5-17, 5-4 SWAC) on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at Davey...
The Jackson State Tigers (6-16, 6-3 SWAC) are at home in SWAC action against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (3-19, 1-8 SWAC) on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM ET. The Tigers are double-digit favorites by 20.5 points...
The Charlotte 49ers (8-15, 1-9 AAC) will look to stop a three-game losing streak when they host the Rice Owls (12-11, 3-7 AAC) on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at Dale F. Halton Arena as just 1-point favorites. The matchup airs...
The Butler Bulldogs (10-13, 3-9 Big East) are at home in Big East action against the Providence Friars (11-12, 5-7 Big East) on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at 3:00 PM ET. The Bulldogs are 4.5-point favorites in the game. The...