Latest news and updates about the Cubs
Framber Valdez is considered by some to be the best free-agent starting pitcher on the market. Since becoming a full-time starting pitcher in 2020, Valdez has been remarkably consistent, posting ERAs no lower than 2.82 and no higher than 3.66, the latter his 2025 ERA. Overall in that time frame: 154 appearances (153 starts), 3.23 […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 21 days ago | 2 reads
Hurt my back pretty badly yesterday, in a totally different way and area than any of the previous injuries (and I was doing nothing unusual, with no warning). Obviously I have to figure out a better way to manage these issues, because this isn’t going to get better on its own as I get older. It really sucks. In a snoozer of an announcement, Shohei Ohtani won his second straight unanimous MVP (and fourth unanimous MVP overall). It was deserved and obvious. What’s a little more fun for ou...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 21 days ago | 0 reads
Sosa and Palmeiro free as birds, and other stories. Happy Birthday to Xavier Nady!* 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 […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 21 days ago | 2 reads
The 1993 Cubs were a maddening team. (Not “Maddon” ing, incidentally.) In their second year under manager Jim Lefebvre, they had hoped to make a jump into contention, but struggled around .500 most of the year. One of the bright spots on the team was catcher Rick Wilkins, who had been a part-time backstop for […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 21 days ago | 3 reads
The 1993 Cubs were a maddening team. (Not “Maddon” ing, incidentally.) In their second year under manager Jim Lefebvre, they had hoped to make a jump into contention, but struggled around .500 most of the year. One of the bright spots on the team was catcher Rick Wilkins, who had been a part-time backstop for […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 21 days ago | 1 read
No matter what sort of reports emerge on the Cubs’ spending intentions for this offseason, I remain steadfast in a general position I think we all should share: I’ll believe it when I see it. With that said, I will also continue beating the drum for them to spend more, citing reasons both (1) strategic ( read this one ) and (2) with respect to their market size, revenue opportunities, and relative financial austerity in the recent past ( read this one ). I will also continue sharing and c...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 21 days ago | 3 reads
The Chicago Cubs are going to make a lot of moves this offseason. Some bigger. Many smaller. And they’ll come on all sides of the ball, from the positional group to the bench to the bullpen to the rotation. None of this is news. But Cubs President Jed Hoyer was pretty candid about where he thinks the majority of the offseason work will come, and that’s on the pitching side. From his perspective, it’s not too difficult to look at the depth chart and see where most of the needs lie. Cu...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 21 days ago | 0 reads
Free agent projections are out, and so it is that time again — time for the annual “should the Rangers sign This Player” polls. Today, we are looking at outfielder Kyle Tucker. Tucker is a 28 year old right fielder who was with the Houston Astros prior to being traded to the Chicago Cubs this […]
From Lone Star Ball | 21 days ago | 4 reads
I wouldn’t say Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai is the top starting pitcher on the free agent market this year, necessarily, and I wouldn’t say it’s a lock that the Chicago Cubs pursue him in any case. But I would say that, on paper, the 27-year-old appears to have big-league-caliber stuff, has dominated in Japan to a similar degree that we’ve seen from other starters who’ve come over and had success, and could give the Cubs a different look at the front of their rotation. The Cubs are not unique in ...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 22 days ago | 2 reads
Most, if not all, of the players I’ve put in this series to date are guys the Cubs likely will not sign — too much money, too many years, or both. Here’s a pitcher who seems more up Jed Hoyer’s alley at the present time. Zac Gallen was originally drafted by the Cardinals (third round, […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 22 days ago | 0 reads
Our water heater died a couple weeks ago, so we had to get it replaced. It was incredibly old, so we kinda felt fortunate to have gotten as much run out of it as we did. The new one is working fine – or at least, it was, until this morning when I discovered the ever-expanding pool of water coming from it in our basement. So that’s been a healthy portion of my morning. There wasn’t much suspense with the Cy Young Awards, with Tarik Skubal almost winning unanimously, and Paul Skenes winni...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 22 days ago | 3 reads
The Arizona Fall League is winding down with the championship series coming up this weekend. But last weekend was the 19th annual Fall Stars Game at Sloan Park, spring training home of the Chicago Cubs. The Colorado Rockies were represented by two players: first baseman Charlie Condon and right-handed pitcher Cade Denton. Before the game, […]
From Purple Row | 22 days ago | 2 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 | 22 days ago | 0 reads
The Arizona Fall League playoffs are underway, and two Chicago Cubs prospects shined brightest for the Mesa Solar Sox in their quarterfinal win. Catching prospect Owen Ayers supplied the only three runs scored in the game with a tank of a homer: 426 feet 107.1 mph @Cubs catching prospect Owen Ayers puts Mesa ahead with a three-run blast in an @mlbAZFallLeague quarterfinal. pic.twitter.com/NkKCpScngp — MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) November 12, 2025 Cubs catcher @OwenAyers10 ...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 22 days ago | 2 reads
It’s Wednesday at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and join us for a while. There’s no cover charge. The dress code is casual. We still have a few tables available. Bring your own beverage. BCB After Dark is the place for […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 22 days ago | 2 reads
Former MLB manager Joe Maddon went on KNBR and said he considered the San Francisco Giants hiring Tony Vitello to be “insulting.” Current broadcaster Duane Kuiper said he found Maddon’s insulting comments, well, insulting. Joe Maddon won the World Series with the Chicago Cubs in 2016 and reached the 2008 series with the Tampa Bay […]
From McCovey Chronicles | 22 days ago | 3 reads
The hit by Luis Salazar that won this day’s game might have been the single play that cemented the NL East title for the Cubs in 1989. To understand that statement, a little context is needed. Salazar had been acquired in trade just 10 days earlier from the Padres. It was just his ninth game […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 22 days ago | 4 reads
Folks who know me well may know that I typically have about 30 to 50 tabs open on my computer at any given time (sadly, not an exaggeration (current count: 43)). There’s just always stuff I want to read, stuff I might want to include in a post, and stuff that might later trigger a new post idea. One tab I’ve had open for weeks is Angels outfielder Jo Adell’s FanGraphs page . At the end of the season, I was just kinda trolling around looking at season performances I hadn’t noticed as they ...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 22 days ago | 4 reads
So if the Cubs aren’t going to re-sign Kyle Tucker — and I do not believe they will — then how about a reunion with Cody Bellinger? Bellinger had a very good 2025 with the Yankees, batting .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs in 152 games. That was worth 5.1 bWAR. Yes, it was skewed a […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 23 days ago | 2 reads
Finally saw ‘Weapons,’ and I thought it was an incredibly enjoyable watch. All the more enjoyable, I suspect, because I was lucky enough to have avoided any spoilers. Went in to it knowing almost nothing, and that made the payoffs so much better. Kyle Hendricks is officially retired, which we knew was coming based on the reports, but the finality of which – without even a whiff of pomp – is still a little jarring. Then again, is it really a surprise that Kyle Hendricks is keeping it low...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 23 days ago | 2 reads
Happy birthday to Jody Davis 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 | 23 days ago | 2 reads
It’s Tuesday night here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. It’s always good to see a friend. Your name is on the guest list. We can take your coat if you’d like. The […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue | 23 days ago | 2 reads
The Chicago Cubs knew that the complex “five-year” contract to which they signed Shōta Imanaga a couple years ago might not actually ever become a five-year contract. Instead, multiple options approaches were baked into the deal, and we saw a couple of them play out at the start of this offseason. The Cubs had the option to retain Imanaga for the next three seasons at $57 million. Once they declined, Imanaga had the option to stay for the next two seasons at $30.5 million, with an opt out...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 23 days ago | 2 reads
In a just-for-fun exercise at ESPN today , Jeff Passan picked one perfect offseason move for each of the 12 playoff teams plus 9 other plausibly active clubs. No overlaps or duplicates, so each club gets just one more. The one Passan picked for the Cubs, incidentally, is the one I would pick, too (well, with a little caveat to follow). It’s Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai, who will be posted soon . From ESPN : “The perfect transaction: Even with Tucker expected to leave, the Cubs still h...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 23 days ago | 3 reads
As we all know, there are some matters of concern about the extent to which the Chicago Cubs spend commensurate with revenue, market size, and brand identity. I’m not about to throw stones without at least some measure of humility. But there’s a nine-figure chasm between the Cubs’ alleged parsimony and that deployed by clubs like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins. Two clubs that have been the subject of grievance(s?) by the MLB Players Association for how little they actually spend...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession | 23 days ago | 4 reads