OK. Day before Thanksgiving. This is important. I must summon all of my willpower to eat VERY LIGHT today, thereby justifying the monstrous damage I plan to do tomorrow. The problem with putting me in charge of Thanksgiving Day food is that I will choose anything and everything that I personally want to eat. Which means there are like 15 different things I want to eat tomorrow, and I will do so.
The Athletic’s Andy McCullough put together a list of mostly-serious, semi-cheeky Black Frid...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| 9 days ago
| 0 reads
Happy birthday to Matt Garza* and other former Cubs! On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a 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: […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 9 days ago
| 1 read
It’s Tuesday evening here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hole-in-the-wall for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. Get warm. We can take your coat for you. There’s no cover charge. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage. […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 9 days ago
| 1 read
One of the secrets of the 2025 Cubs success was above average production from just about every position on the diamond. That includes catcher, where Carson Kelly, Miguel Amaya and Reese McGuire combined to put up 4.2 fWAR last season. You can see FanGraphs’ summary of production by player position and role at this link. […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 9 days ago
| 0 reads
Every year, MLB teams pay into a pool of cash set aside to reward younger players – those who’ve not yet reached their arbitration years – for the value they provide in a given season. It was a nod in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement to the fact that pre-arb players do so much for a team, but receive so little compensation, relatively speaking.
The payout is based on a combination of factors, from awards recognition to WAR calculations, and it comes from the collective pool, not a...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| 9 days ago
| 1 read
The last weekend of May 2015 was unseasonably cool and rainy in Chicago. When the Cubs defeated the Royals at Wrigley Field May 31, the game-time temperature was just 47 degrees — that’s almost 30 degrees below the average high for the date, 75. And the game the day before had been rained out. The […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 9 days ago
| 1 read
One day after the Cubs signed Phil Maton to the franchise’s most significant free agent deal for a reliever since Craig Kimbrel, we were able to confirm that they would still be in the market for impact free-agent relievers . Pete Fairbanks is a name we’ve heard and discussed. Brad Keller could always make his way back to Chicago. And even Devin Williams, with his Craig Counsell connection, is an option, I’m told. But there’s another former NL Central closer, Ryan Helsley, reportedly on the Cu...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| 9 days ago
| 0 reads
Let’s pivot from looking at possible Cubs free agent signings and instead, check out some starting pitchers who will likely be available by trade. Some of these guys were the same starters that many teams, including the Cubs, tried to acquire at last summer’s deadline. Exactly zero of these pitchers were traded, reportedly because the […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 10 days ago
| 0 reads
We finally have some numbers on the Phil Maton deal , though not yet the full breakdown (which I do think matters):
Phil Maton Cubs deal: $14.5M, 2 years and club option. Plus $250K incentives per year based on games pitched for the ultra reliable reliever. So good chance to reach $15M. — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 25, 2025
Maton had 81 k’s in 61.1 innings split between St. Louis and Texas last season — one of the best of his career. @Michael_Cerami was on the signing las...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| 10 days ago
| 0 reads
We cover the coverage like PCA covers center field. It gets old, repeating the same non-news every day, or every other day. The nature of this team’s management group means that they’re frustrating to root for. But nonetheless we persist, and try to err on the positive side, if possible. Several sources report that Evan […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 10 days ago
| 1 read
It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re so glad you decided to stop by. It’s always good to see a friendly face. There’s no cover charge. We still have a few tables available. Let us know if you need […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 10 days ago
| 0 reads
MLB RUMORS — Brett and I got into this a bit in our latest episode of the Bleacher Nation Cubs podcast (which is still going into the offseason!), but it bears repeating in writing: For however much we may want the Cubs to add an impact bat this offseason, and for however much adding that bat at third base makes the most sense, and for however much we ALSO believe the Cubs want to continue supporting their pipeline into the NPB and Japenese-player market, we do NOT think Munetaka Murakami is ...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| 10 days ago
| 1 read
The Cubs today announced that infielder Jonathon Long was the winner of the Buck O’Neil Cubs Minor League Player of the Year and that right-hander Jostin Florentino was the Vedie Himsl Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Long, 23, was a ninth-round pick out of Long Beach State in 2023. In his third season […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 10 days ago
| 1 read
The stove is hot and even the normally cautious Cubs front office is getting in on the early moves, signing righthander Phil Maton (first noted by Michael Cerami) to a two-year deal, with an option for at third year, on Friday. Maton will turn 33 before the season starts and has bounced around the league […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 10 days ago
| 2 reads
Even after Shota Imanaga accepted his one-year, $22M qualifying offer last week, the Chicago Cubs are expected to pursue another front-half-of-the-rotation starting pitcher this offseason.
Whether that pitcher is signed out of free agency ( Dylan Cease , Tatsuya Imai , Michael King , Zac Gallen , etc.) or acquired via trade ( Joe Ryan , Kris Bubic , Sandy Alcantara , Edward Cabrera , MacKenzie Gore , etc.) remains to be seen. But the need, willingness to act, and supply of quality options...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| 10 days ago
| 0 reads
Post-2025 MLB Off-Season Will Begin on Sunday 11/2
11/25 UPDATE: The Cubs signed free-agent RHRP Phil Maton to a two year $14.5M contract ($7.25M AAV) plus a third year $7.25M club option or a $250K buy-out. $250K in annual performance bonuses are also included in the deal. The Cubs now have 31 players on their MLB Reserve List (40-man roster), so nine slots are open. As is the case with all Article XX-B MLB free-agents who sign after 23:59 on the 5th day after the final game o...
From The Cub Reporter (TCR) | A Chicago Cubs Blog
| 10 days ago
| 2 reads
The Cubs were in the midst of a pretty dismal season, their third losing year in a row. They were 18 games under .500 at 43-61 and 14.5 games out of first place when they hosted the Rockies in the second of a three-game series under the lights on a Tuesday. This game started out […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 10 days ago
| 0 reads
The Chicago Cubs will continue to add to their bullpen group this offseason – maybe even from the upper-tier of the free agent market – both because of an acute need, and also because they ALWAYS add lots and lots of different types of pitchers to the Spring Training mix (and then well into the season, too). If you bring in enough options, and if you’re good at selection and refining and game-planning, the Cubs have found that they can pretty much always net out three or four useful relievers ...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| 11 days ago
| 2 reads
This look is so early that we don’t have a salary number to add for Phil Maton, who the Cubs were reported to have signed late last Friday. We’ll do more of these as the offseason continues, and at some point someone will report what Maton will be getting in his two-year deal (with a […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 11 days ago
| 0 reads
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a 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. Happy birthday to Dave Hansen* and other former Cubs. Today in baseball history: Cubs Birthdays: […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 11 days ago
| 1 read
Last weekend, I presented this aerial photo of Wrigley Field and sleuthed it, with Mike Bojanowski’s help, as being from a doubleheader Friday, July 4, 1947. That appeared to be an important day for photographing the ol’ ballyard, as here is a photo from inside Wrigley Field on that very same day. The photo from […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 11 days ago
| 0 reads
We cover the coverage like PCA covers center field. The Cubs signed reliever Phil Maton and his bat-dodger offerings to a two-year deal, sources report. Adolis Garcia is the name that comes up today as a possibility for the Cubs’ outfield. “I’ve always been a big Owen Caissie fan. I pound the table for him […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| 12 days ago
| 0 reads
Big ups to my loyal Rival Roundup readers. Feel free to start brainstorming a sort of “fandom name” for yourselves in the comments. The more provocative, the better, I’m thinking. That’s my early take here. I might change my mind after seeing some suggestions.
From Twinkie Town
| 12 days ago
| 0 reads
The Highs and Lows After a three and out to start the quarter, the Gophers were given the gift of a muffed punt. Taking over at Northwestern’s 28, Minnesota immediately scored a touchdown on a play action pass from Drake Lindsey to Javon Tracy. It was Tracy’s third touchdown reception of the day. Northwestern responded […]
From The Daily Gopher
| 12 days ago
| 1 read
A much better second quarter at Wrigley. Koi Perich flew through a perfect tunnel block for a 95 yard return to set up first and goal at the end of the first quarter. The Gophers punched it in on a nice counter pitch to Darius Taylor to start the second. The defense continued a maddening […]
From The Daily Gopher
| 12 days ago
| 1 read