Editor’s Note: Yes, it’s that time of year again – the time for us to settle back into our protective bubble where the Chicago Cubs are destined for greatness, and every other team in the National League Central is bound for spectacular failure. If you’d care to check out last year’s fare: St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati […]
If Chicago Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro has shown anything in his young Major League career, it’s that he can hit, but is subject to lapses in the field. Whether those lapses are physical or mental is yet unclear, but one thing is certain: it’s gotta change. This team will not win anything if they’re not […]
Lou Piniella tearfully left baseball in August of last year, noting that it would be the last time he would put on a uniform. It was the end of an era, to be sure, but Lou never said it would be the last time he worked for a baseball organization. The team hasn’t made an […]
If you wanted to buy a bundle of tickets to Chicago Cubs games this year, but don’t have season tickets, and don’t want to go a la carte, you can now buy a package of 13 game tickets, with some choice built in. The ticket packages are divided into bleacher seats or seats in the […]
In rumors that make no sense, Jerry Crasnick is reporting that he’s heard the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants have discussed swapping outfielders Kosuke Fukudome and Aaron Rowand in a “classic bad-contract, change-of-scenery deal.” It’s almost impossible to see anything coming from this, as swapping a productive, left-handed outfielder for an unproductive, right-handed outfielder can’t […]
The Chicago Cubs have officially released their 35-game 2011 Spring Training schedule, though many of the games were already known. Among the highlights: the opener is February 27 against the A’s at HoHoKam, and the conclusion is an intrasquad game on March 30 to benefit Chicago Cubs Charities. The Cubs will also play a couple […]
Even less likely than Victor Martinez, the Chicago Cubs were once connected with San Francisco Giant Aubrey Huff for their first base opening. The connection shriveled quickly with Huff’s apparent ardor to return to San Francisco, and today, it died when Huff re-signed with the Giants. He gets two years and $22 million, which is […]
Fresh on the heels of a number of rumors suggesting Adam Dunn will be out of the Chicago Cubs’ price range this winter, together with the bargain suggestions of Adam LaRoche and Nick Johnson, we get a new batch of names from the second tier of free agency – recent World Series hero/panty-wearer Aubrey Huff, […]
With the World Series at its close (thank GOD those poor, long-suffering Giants fans got their championship, no?), the offseason is officially upon us. Nearly 200 players filed for free agency last night, and assuredly general managers everywhere are poised to make calls, pour over stats and tape, and try to make their 2011 club […]
Tomorrow marks the last day that a team can make a trade (via the waiver system) for a player, and include that player on its post-season roster. The Chicago Cubs have already made a couple waiver trades, sending Mike Fontenot to the Giants and Derrek Lee to the Braves. But are the Cubs done dealing? […]
Trades made after the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31 are rare – at least, far more rare than trades made before the deadline – but they do happen, as evinced by the Chicago Cubs trade last night with the Giants, sending Mike Fontenot out for prospect Evan Crawford. With the Cubs thoroughly out of […]
We haven’t heard too much about the trades that never were, but it seems that the Chicago Cubs nearly dealt outfielder Xavier Nady and infielder Mike Fontenot to the San Francisco Giants just before the trade deadline. Obviously the trade never materialized, and now the Cubs will work to deal the players via the waiver […]
Just like that, two Chicago Cubs starters are out of the picture for a stretch. Catcher Geovany Soto, battling a right shoulder strain, has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, and first baseman Derrek Lee has been placed on the bereavement list while he attends to his ailing grandfather. Soto has not played since […]
The Chicago Cubs made clear yesterday that Carlos Zambrano will rejoin the team’s rotation on Monday when he starts against the Giants in San Francisco. Again: in San Francisco. It ain’t a coincidence that it’s coming on the road. As for Zambrano, he’s unsurprisingly excited about the opportunity. Whether the 11 starts he figures to […]
Though he didn’t even appear in the game, last night’s shellacking of Carlos Silva made it incrementally more likely that Chicago Cubs starter Ted Lilly would be traded. With just over a week to go before the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31, the Cubs are no doubt continuously evaluating their position vis a vis […]
The San Francisco Giants are in a battle out West, and are falling slowly out of the race. Thus, they’re looking to shore up their team as baseball heads into the second half. The Giants also are in the market for pitching and they had a scout at Wrigley Field last week watching Tom Gorzelanny, […]
The 2010 MLB Draft is in the books, and the Chicago Cubs took another 20 players on Wednesday, for a total of 50 players drafted over the course of the drawn-out three day draft. Out of 50 total picks, the Cubs took 29 players who were either high school or junior college players. Likewise, 31 […]
You may remember him from such screams as “COME ON!” and “THROW F*&CKING STRIKES!” It appears that recently-released reliever Bobby Howry will be a Chicago Cub again very soon. Comcast SportsNet has learned that the Cubs have signed veteran relief pitcher Bob Howry. He will report to the team in Texas this weekend. Howry was […]
Editor’s Note: Yes, it’s that time of year again – the time for us to settle back into our protective bubble where the Chicago Cubs are destined for greatness, and every other team in the National League Central is bound for spectacular failure. If you’d care to check out last year’s fare: St. Louis Cardinals, […]
Sometimes I come across a rumor from the far reaches of the ‘net that emanates from sources I don’t know. That is not to say it might not have a nugget of truth – I simply can’t vouch for it. But I figure you are all big boys and girls, and can decide for yourselves […]
Chicago Cubs outfielder Xavier Nady is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery last year, and was expected to be ready to do some DH’ing this past weekend. The throwing program he’s on, however, wore him down, and he wasn’t ready to risk jacking up his arm at the plate. By Thursday, the […]
The Chicago Cubs have announced their broadcast schedule for the 2010 season, and it will feature the lowest number of games on WGN in a long, long time – just 58 games. And that, of course, does not include Opening Day, which will be on WCIU. The Cubs will be on Fox eight times, and […]
The Cubs continue to search for low risk pitching options, and now will scout former San Francisco Giant starter Noah Lowry. The soft-tossing lefty always gave the Cubs fits, but hasn’t pitched in the Major Leagues since 2007. Lowry, 29, suffered from thoracic outlet syndrome (nerve problems in the neck, shoulder, and arm), and now is […]
Apologies to recently re-signed minor league veterans Mark Johnson and Scott “John” McClain. They were signed to minor-league deals earlier this week, and we were remiss in reporting it. Each got a Spring Training invitation, but to the minor league portion. The Cubs have signed a couple of familiar faces to minor-league deals and invited […]
You can stop hoping. And you probably shouldn’t have been hoping in the first place; not because Mark DeRosa is not a fine player, but instead because the Cubs haven’t been meaningfully connected to a Mark DeRosa rumor since they dealt him to the Cleveland Indians last year. A person with knowledge of the negotiations […]
When it comes to pitchers, Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry has shown a penchant for loving two things: middle relievers and reclamation projects. So when an opportunity to combine his two passions came along, he simply couldn’t pass it up. The Cubs sent a scout to watch Kelvim Escobar throw in Venezuela. The right-hander […]
For those Chicago Cubs fans holding out hope that the team would take interest in signing free agent Mark DeRosa – you’re going to have to get used to disappointment. Of the Dodgers’ interest in DeRosa, Grunewald said, “The interest is mutual.” But the agent said that the Dodgers are one of a dozen teams that have […]
The Chicago Cubs just released their 2010 Spring Training schedule. And, well, here it is: March 4 vs. Oakland Athletics March 5 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks March 6 vs. Chicago White Sox March 7 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (ss) and at Chicago White Sox, Glendale, Ariz. March 8 at Oakland Athletics, Phoenix March 9 vs. Milwaukee […]
Earlier this month, Paul Sullivan, among others, suggested that the Chicago Cubs should explore swapping Milton Bradley with Aaron Rowand, from the Giants. Turns out, the Giants would probably do that. But for what it’s worth, I asked someone on the Giants’ side — someone with veto power — whether he’d approve a straight-up Bradley-for-Rowand […]
The 2010 Major League Baseball draft order is out, pending changes due to free agency signings, and the Chicago Cubs come in at 16th. That the Cubs are 16th and not 17th is actually quite huge: now, if and when the Cubs sign a Type A free agent who has been offered arbitration by his […]
