There it is. Today, per Jeff Passan , the Chicago Cubs extended a one-year, $22 million Qualifying Offer not only to Kyle Tucker – we knew that was coming – but also to Shōta Imanaga.
The latter was put deeply into question by recent developments in the market, but clearly the Cubs believe Imanaga is worth a one-year, $22 million deal, and/or he will reject it in favor of a better contract, either with a new team or negotiated with the Cubs. The option the Cubs declined on Imanaga was eff...
Episode 37 of the Bleacher Nation Cubs Podcast is officially live!
In this week’s episode, Brett and I talk about the Shota Imanaga decision this week, and what he might be looking at in a market that forced Jack Flaherty and Shane Bieber to accept surprisingly soft terms before even testing the market. Likewise, we get into the extreme bullpen turnover ahead of us, and what that migth mean for the Cubs pursuits this winter.
After the break, in our transaction corner, we focus our at...
Thursday was the deadline for teams to make qualifying offers to their players who are free agents and the Cubs did so for two such players. Kyle Tucker was an obvious choice to make the offer of $22.025 million. Just as obvious is the fact that he’ll turn it down and head toward another team […]
Multiple sources—including MLB.com’s Thomas Harding, ESPN’s Jeff Passan, and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman—reported Thursday afternoon that the Colorado Rockies finally have a hire for their open head of baseball operations position. The position has been vacant since the resignation of Bill Schmidt following the end of the 2025 season. The Rockies are known […]
Today’s the deadline for decisions to be made on player/club options and we’ve already seen the Braves make a couple of very interesting decisions on Pierce Johnson and Tyler Kinley, respectively. There is one choice that appears to be a no-brainer and that’s the decision to decline an $8 million team option for INF/P David […]
After yesterday’s minor deal with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire a potential bullpen arm in Cole Wilcox, POBO Jerry Dipoto and GM Justin Hollander remain active in their efforts to add to The Pile this offseason and claimed RHP Ryan Loutos from the Washington Nationals. The move puts the 4o man roster at 38. […]
Paul Toboni made a bunch of moves to the 40-man roster this afternoon. None of them were huge moves individually, but together the moves created a lot of space on the 40-man roster. With the offseason here, Paul Toboni will look to optimize that 40-man roster as much as possible. Earlier this afternoon, it was […]
The Colorado Rockies are set to hire Paul DePodesta as their president of baseball operations, per the Athletic. This would not be that surprising if this were being done a decade ago. DePodesta was one Billy Beane’s top lieutenants with the Oakland A’s beginning in 1999, and was featured prominently in Michael Lewis’s book Moneyball, […]
An updated Chicago Bears injury report ahead of the team’s upcoming Week 10 game against the New York Giants is OUT.
And, in what I would call a pleasant surprise, a whole bunch of injured Bears players were given upgrades. Here is a quick rundown:
Running back D’Andre Swift (groin) went from being a limited participant on Wednesday to being a full go on Thursday. Swift was a DNP in all three practices in last week’s Bears injury report, then missed the team’s Week 9 win against th...
With 5 divisional games left on the schedule in their last nine contests, the Los Angeles Rams can swing wildly in either direction between now and when the NFC playoffs are set. That journey continues this Sunday against the 6-3 San Francisco 49ers, but could their two remaining games against the 3-5 Arizona Cardinals be […]
Former Padres reliever Craig Stammen has been hired as their new manager. Stammen played for the Padres for six seasons, 2017-2022, and was highly respected and well-liked during his time with the team as a player, and was hired as a special assistant in the player development department after his retirement. Stammen, 41, played for […]
When we last checked in, just before the end of the regular season, the Diamondbacks had 39 players on the 40-man roster. But as had been discussed, there was significant work to be done to free up spots, both for the 60-day injured list going away, and to protect eligible prospects from the upcoming Rule […]
You know baseball has truly reached the off-season when top prospect lists start to come out, and Baseball America were one of the first, unveiling their Atlanta Braves Top 10 just yesterday. While the scouting reports are fully behind a paywall there are still some interesting tidbits for those without an account – including Baseball […]
The Chicago Bears shook off their loss to the Baltimore Ravens with a chaotic shootout win in Cincinnati, and now they return home for a matchup with the Giants.
Chicago is starting to find its offensive identity behind Caleb Williams, but several big questions linger as the schedule tightens. Will Kyle Monangai’s breakout moments will lead to a bigger workload? What does Rome Odunze’s recent dip in production really mean?
Defensively, the Bears are coming off one of their roughest w...
Best bets are available as the New York Giants (2-7) enter a matchup with the Chicago Bears (5-3) on Sunday, November 9, 2025 at Soldier Field on a three-game losing streak.
Sign up for Fubo to watch the NFL, live sports and entertainment without cable!
Best Over/Under Bet
O/U Pick: Over (46.5)
Bears games have gone over 46.5 points scored five times (out of eight) this season.
This season, five of the Giants’ nine matchups have gone over 46.5 total points scored.
The Bears and G...
How Acquired Carlos was signed by the Braves as a minor league free agent following the end of the 2024 season and his release from the Milwaukee Brewers organization. What Were Expectations? Carlos was immediately inserted in many of the Braves Top 30 charts because of his skill set and promise as a Brewers prospect […]
A version of this story originally ran April 8, 2019, the 50th anniversary of this historic event. I repost it here as part of this walkoff wins series, with some minor edits and a few notes on Willie Smith’s career. To understand the true meaning of Willie Smith’s walkoff two-run homer on April 8, 1969, […]
Honest Abe. The Bull. The lawnmower. That other Canadian Guy. In case of emergency, put at first base. These are all names Abraham Toro could have been known as in 2025. And some of them he actually was, as least from time to time. The Good When Triston Casas went down and Rafael Devers refused […]
I’m glad that I’m not in charge of a professional sports team. It’s a lot of work, the pressure is intense, and at any given time a lot of people hate your guts. It is also significantly more complicated and nuanced than fans think it is–in a real-time, zero-sum world, you aren’t even guaranteed to […]
Roy Keane has never been one to mince words — and on the latest episode of Stick to Football, the former Manchester United captain called out Liverpool fans for booing Trent Alexander-Arnold during his return to Anfield as a Real Madrid player. Alexander-Arnold, who left Liverpool in the summer join Real Madrid, was met with […]
The Orioles announced their 2026 season schedule for promotions and giveaway items on Thursday afternoon. This is getting a much earlier start on the schedule compared to what the team has done recently. Each of the last two seasons, they did not do the announcement until January. The initial announcement about these items and dates […]
Well, it didn’t take long after declining Tyler Kinley’s option for the Braves to go ahead and do the same thing to Pierce Johnson. Like Kinley, Johnson was also acquired from the Rockies in a Trade Deadline deal, back in 2023. He was lights out after the trade (17/66/48 ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-), and because he checked a […]
Louisville Cardinals (1-0) vs. Jackson State Tigers (0-1) Game Time: 7 p.m. Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky. Television: ACC Network Extra/WatchESPN Announcers: Kent Taylor (play-by-play) and Larry O’Bannon (analyst) Officials: TBA Favorite: Louisville by 38.5 Series: Louisville Leads, 3-0 Last Meeting: Louisville won, 62-45, on Nov. 20, 2010 in Louisville Series History: Projected Starting Lineups: Louisville Jackson State Statistics: Jackson State’s […]
For a second time this offseason, a former Washington National has become a manager. This time it is former reliever Craig Stammen, who got hired as the manager of the San Diego Padres. Stammen had a 13 year career, which was split almost evenly between DC and San Diego. Now he will be managing the […]
Today we got the answer to the question of who the next quarterback in the group is. The Arizona Cardinals signed Jeff Driskel to their practice squad today. From the team: The Arizona Cardinals Football Club today announced that the team has signed quarterback Jeff Driskel to the practice squad. The signing took place today at the Dignity Health […]