MLB News Outside The Confines: Red Sox acquire Sonny Gray from Cardinals
Good morning. The Cold Stove League is thawing.
13 days ago | 0 reads
Bleed Cubbie Blue
A Chicago Cubs Fan Community Since February 9, 2005
Latest Entries
Chicago Cubs history unpacked, November 26
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: […]
13 days ago | 1 read
Cubs BCB After Dark: Was the Kyle Tucker trade a “success”?
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. […]
14 days ago | 1 read
The Short Porch is looking at the Cubs catching depth
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. […]
14 days ago | 1 read
Cubs walkoff heroes: Chris Denorfia, Sept. 28, 2015
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 […]
14 days ago | 1 read
Cubs trade target: Joe Ryan
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 […]
14 days ago | 2 reads
Chicago Cubs news and notes — Ballesteros, Horton, Jonathon Long
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 […]
14 days ago | 1 read
Cubs BCB After Dark: Should the Cubs sign Pete Fairbanks?
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 […]
15 days ago | 1 read
Cubs News: Jonathon Long, Jostin Florentino named Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year
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 […]
15 days ago | 1 read
The Phil Maton signing by the numbers
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 […]
15 days ago | 2 reads
Cubs walkoff heroes: John Baker, July 29, 2014
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 […]
15 days ago | 0 reads
A very early look at the 2026 Cubs roster, payroll and luxury tax
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 […]
15 days ago | 0 reads
MLB News: WPBL, Marcus Semien, Brandon Nimmo, Tarik Skubal, Barry Bonds
Well, the MLB non-tender deadline has passed, and with it, some interesting new names have been added to free agency. It also means that teams can now really begin trading and signing players in earnest. The Mets and Rangers wasted little time getting some big names moving, as they put together a Marcus Semien/Brandon Nimmo […]
15 days ago | 1 read
Chicago Cubs history unpacked, November 24 — Joe Tinker, Bob Kennedy, Jeimer Candelario
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: […]
15 days ago | 1 read
Wrigley Field historical sleuthing: 1947 edition, part 2
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 […]
16 days ago | 0 reads
Chicago Cubs news and notes — Caissie, Horton, Imai, Tucker
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 […]
16 days ago | 0 reads
Cubs historical sleuthing: Billy Williams edition
This is an early photo of Cubs Hall of Fame outfielder Billy Williams, and with the scoreboard matchups here it was pretty easy to sleuth this one. This was taken at the original Busch Stadium, formerly called Sportsman’s Park, home of the Cardinals from 1909 to 1966, when they moved into the second Busch Stadium […]
17 days ago | 2 reads
Chicago Cubs news and notes — Tucker, Imanaga, King, Refsnyder.
We cover the coverage like PCA covers center field. Names in the news today: Rob Refsnyder, Michael King. Several places have discussed both. Refsnyder looks like Turner-lite and that probably doesn’t have legs. Signing King would add a brisker pace to the offseason. *means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means […]
17 days ago | 1 read
Cubs News: Cubs sign free agent reliever Phil Maton
The Cubs have signed their first free agent of the winter and it’s right-handed reliever Phil Maton to a two-year deal with a club option for a third year. Bleacher Nation’s Michael Cerami had it first and The Athletic’s Will Sammon was first with the length of the deal. We still don’t have the dollar […]
18 days ago | 1 read
Cubs non-tender Reese McGuire and Eli Morgan
Today was the deadline to tender contracts to all arbitration-eligible players. The Cubs had just four such players for 2026: Justin Steele, Javier Assad, Eli Morgan and Reese McGuire. Three of those players will be offered 2026 contracts. One will not: Reese McGuire came along at exactly the right time for the 2025 Cubs. He […]
18 days ago | 1 read
Cubs walkoff heroes: Bryan LaHair, Oct. 3, 2012
The Cubs were being rebuilt by new President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein in 2012, and the results on the field showed it. They finished 61-101, their first 100-loss season since 1966. One of the bright spots was Bryan LaHair, who began the year as the team’s first baseman. He hit well enough in the […]
18 days ago | 1 read
Cubs free agent target: Foster Griffin
The other day Josh posed this question in After Dark: Should the Cubs sign Cody Ponce? Ponce pitched in 20 games for the Pirates in 2020 and 2021, with not much success (5.86 ERA, 1.536 WHIP) and then went to throw several years in Japan and Korea, with good results the last two years. Now […]
18 days ago | 0 reads
MLB News Outside The Confines: The Orioles and Angels make a trade
Good morning. I think Al pretty much handled the fiasco concerning the MLB TV rights, so we’ll skip that here.
18 days ago | 1 read
Chicago Cubs history unpacked, November 21 — Ban Johnson, Chuck Klein, Bill Veeck
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 Quinton Berry and other former Cubs! Today in baseball history: Cubs Birthdays: […]
18 days ago | 0 reads
Cubs walkoff heroes: Alfonso Soriano, July 27, 2009
Coming off the division title years in 2007 and 2008, hopes were high for a three-peat in 2009. But the Cubs struggled for much of the early going in ‘09. They kept near first place, but after mid-April were not again in first place — until July 26, when a win over the Reds put […]
19 days ago | 2 reads