Latest news and updates about the Cubs
Before the 2025 season began, the Cubs reportedly approached Pete Crow-Armstrong with a contract extension offer: It’s unclear how many years and option years would have been included in such a contract, but nothing was done beyond that. And all of that happened either early in the 2025 season or perhaps before it even began. […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 5 reads
We cover the coverage like PCA covers center field. *means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments. Food for thought: Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 2 reads
It’s Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re so glad you stopped by. Come in out of the chill. Let us check your coat for you. There’s no cover charge and the dress code is casual. The hostess will seat […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 2 reads
A random thing occurred to me today for whatever reason: the Chicago Cubs are about to have a TON of open spots on their 40-man roster. By the time free agency rolls around, teams have had to bring injured players (60-day IL) back onto the 40-man roster, and it can feel mighty crowded. But then free agents are removed from the 40-man, and a team typically dips back under the 40-player limit without having to dump anyone at that particular moment. Sure enough, that’ll happen for the C...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 2 reads
The Cubs might take home a few Gold Gloves this year, as six Cubs players are finalists for those awards, as announced last week by Rawlings. Even more hardware could be going home with Cubs batters for 2025, as three Cubs players, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Nico Hoerner, were named finalists for Silver Slugger […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 2 reads
Although the fresh playoff moments for the Chicago Cubs wrapped up in this year’s National League Division Series, we can still look back and enjoy the best of the best moments that came before. For example, here’s one of the absolute best: on this day in 2016, the Cubs beat the Dodgers to win the 2016 National League Championship Series and take their first pennant in 71 years. They were off to the World Series, where I seem to recall some good things happened. Enjoy the highlights ...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 2 reads
Back in December of 2022, the Chicago Cubs signed free agent shortstop Dansby Swanson to a seven-year, $177 million contract. If you recall back to that winter, Swanson was the fourth of the four big free agent shortstops (Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts) to sign his deal and got the smallest guarantee of the bunch. And although the Cubs have made the playoffs just one time since signing Swanson to that near-franchise-record deal, it does generally feel like it’s been a success. Bu...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 2 reads
By pretty much any metric you’d choose, the Chicago Cubs had a top five-ish offense this year in Major League Baseball, even as they suffered through significant dips at times throughout the season. It’s unsurprising, then, that the Cubs are pretty well represented on the list of National League Silver Slugger finalists this year. From MLB.com : First base: Pete Alonso, New York Mets; Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers; Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves Second base: Nico Hoerner, C...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 2 reads
This is the first in a short series about potential contract extensions for young Cubs players. Let me preface all of these by saying that it’s unlikely any of them will happen. Because of a potential lockout after the 2026 season and uncertainty about what’s going to happen beyond Dec. 1, 2026, when the MLB/MLBPA […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 2 reads
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths. “Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire. Today in baseball history: Cubs Birthdays: Jimmie Foxx HOF, Frank DiPino, Michael Barrett, Eli Whiteside, Chris […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 2 reads
It’s Tuesday night here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and join us for a while. We can check your coat for you. There’s no cover charge. We still have a few tables available. Bring your own beverage. BCB After […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 2 reads
Here’s an arm to keep in the back of your mind this offseason as the Chicago Cubs consider multiple additions to the pitching staff. Foster Griffin, 30, is a former Royals prospect and long-time minor leaguer who had to head to Japan in his late-20s to get a real shot at playing at the highest level. There, he dominated over the last three seasons, and is now looking to come back to MLB as a free agent, per Jon Heyman . Although I can’t speak to how well Griffin’s stuff will translat...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 2 reads
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cubs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. Tomorrow, I’m going to begin a five-part series in which I examine the possibilities of contract […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 6 reads
Game 7 of the 2025 ALCS gave us an instant classic. I hope the World Series can match that energy because nothing says autumn like checking in on high-drama baseball in the moments when I’m not obsessing about the Chicago Bears. Episode V of The Bleacher Nation Bears podcast is HERE! You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. Sure, that means Apple and Spotify for many of you. But you can also subscribe and follow on YouTube . In this week’s episode, we tackle Caleb Williams’ ba...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 2 reads
The question as one kicks off any Kyle Schwarber, Cubs-related post: can I get through this without relitigating the financially-motivated decision to non-tender Schwarber after the 2020 season? We all know the story by now, I think I can avoid some redundancy, save for the mention that, since the Cubs almost certainly would’ve traded Schwarber during the 2021 sell-off anyway, it’s probable that everything else would’ve played out as it did even if the Cubs had initially kept Schwarber. I...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 3 reads
Josh covered this topic in After Dark last week but I thought I’d weigh in on Shōta Imanaga’s deal myself, as we don’t have much Cubs news these days and are awaiting the World Series to begin three days from now, Friday evening in Toronto. The Cubs left-hander from Japan signed a complicated deal with […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 2 reads
A big heads up for the fantasy-inclined among you: if you haven’t yet checked out BN Fantasy , now is the time to do it. The higher-ups decided to do a huge deposit match over the next couple weeks – up to $500, which is massive – so do yourself a favor and check out the details here . The Mariners and Blue Jays played a thriller of a Game Seven, with George Springer homering late to give the Blue Jays the lead and the eventual win. I’m sure MLB was relieved that the ALCS turned into su...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 1 read
We cover the coverage like PCA covers center field. Life will be commencing shortly — the World Series will be over, and the Free Agency Freezer will open once again. MLB execs will be more close-mouthed than Edward Teller, or even Raymond Joseph Derickson Teller, and will probably shave their expectations closer than Penn Jillette […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 2 reads
Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. It’s good to see you to start the week out right. Come on in and join us. The dress code is casual. We can check a coat for you if you need to. There are […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 3 reads
Although I do believe that the Cubs should have plenty of reasons (and more than enough payroll space) to be aggressive in free agency this offseason, their intentions on that front aren’t particularly clear. That’s due in part to Jed Hoyer’s history of free agent passivity, as well as the new CBA negotiations and expected lockout. But there’s also the fact that the 2026 roster is already pretty full-up with potential starters: C – Carson Kelly/Miguel Amaya 1B – Michael Busch 2B – Ni...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 2 reads
Freddy Peralta has been an outstanding pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers for the past eight seasons, giving the Chicago Cubs fits along the way. He has become something of an anchor for the Brewers rotation, pitching like an ace in 2025, and is just 29 years old. So it’s high time for the Brewers to trade him. From The Athletic : “In this case, as the winter unfolds, the Brewers are expected to at least field offers for starting pitcher Freddy Peralta, according to people fami...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 2 reads
The Arizona Fall League has now finished their second week and the Mesa Solar Sox won three and lost three over the past week. That gives them an overall record of 4-6, which puts them in fifth place in the six-team AFL. However, they’re just three games out of first and a game and a […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 2 reads
Chicago Cubs catching prospect Owen Ayers is on fire to start the Arizona Fall League season, getting plenty of attention for his feats. But Ayers is not the only Cubs positional prospect raking here at the start of the AFL season: Cubs No. 17 prospect Cole Mathis goes 454 feet for his first homer this Fall! It extends the lead for the Solar Sox, 9-4 pic.twitter.com/zYbKsIolTo — MLB's Arizona Fall League (@MLBazFallLeague) October 19, 2025 Cole Mathis, 22, was the Cubs sec...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 2 reads
I’ve written on this topic previously, but now I’ve got some new information that I wanted to pass along to you. As you know if you attend Cubs games when there are promotional gate giveaways, the team limits those to the first 10,000 (or “up to” that number, as they generally say) who come to […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 3 months ago | 2 reads
Maybe it wasn’t a work of art, but the Chicago Bears found a way to win (by multiple scores) a total trap game in nasty conditions. That’s four straight wins for the first time in seven years. A random combination thought about the Cubs’ bullpen group that I want to keep in mind for the offseason. For the last several years running, two things have been true every single year. First, the Cubs find reclamation relievers who wind up being big contributors. Second, younger/newer guys who w...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 3 months ago | 2 reads