Just a few more days left of having to catch myself when trying to reference the previous season and the following season, without simply being able to say “this year” or “last year” in a very clean and easy way.
It’s TBD what it’ll actually mean , but The Athletic is reporting that, “The expectation is for Baltimore to remain in the market for starting pitching help” even after re-signing Zach Eflin last night . My hope is that they’re out, so that they aren’t additional competition on...
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 Kevin Hart* and other former Cubs. You think you have tribbles? Today […]
On the first day of CubsmasMy true love gave to meAn Anthony Rizzo retirement for the ages, On the second day of CubsmasMy true love gave to meA $2 scorecardAnd an Anthony Rizzo retirement for the ages On the third day of CubsmasMy true love gave to meThree Schwarbombs in the first All-Star Game Home […]
This one’s pretty easy, because it says “Jackie Robinson Day, April 15, 2007” on the message board beneath the Wrigley Field scoreboard. Credit again goes to BCB reader Clark Addison. In fact, it’s the very first Jackie Robinson Day, and Griffey was the player most responsible for making that happen. April 15, 2007 was the […]
DA BEARS ARE THE NFC NORTH CHAMPIONS . That’s not the end goal in a season that has become as compelling as this one, but it’s absolutely something you want to achieve when the year starts. And something very few would’ve predicted back in September. So I’m gonna smile about it. (Now go get that number one seed …. )
We’ll have more analysis on the Hunter Harvey signing , because, like I said, I love the potential upside there. Here, though, I wanted to talk about the various implication...
You might think the Cubs should transition to starters now, having filled the bullpen with over-30 arms yet again. Ken Rosenthal believes in Owen Caissie. *means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} 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. […]
On the first day of CubsmasMy true love gave to meAn Anthony Rizzo retirement for the ages, On the second day of CubsmasMy true love gave to meA $2 scorecardAnd an Anthony Rizzo retirement for the ages On the third day of CubsmasMy true love gave to meThree Schwarbombs in the first All-Star Game Home […]
The fourth day of Cubsmas: Four postseason wins
The third day of Cubsmas: Three Schwarbombs in the first All-Star home run swing-off
The second day of Cubsmas: A $2 scorecard
The first day of Cubsmas: One Anthony Rizzo retirement for the ages
This Cubs offseason appears to be, at least so far, “Sign All The Relievers Except The Big-Name Ones” year for Jed Hoyer. Next up: Hunter Harvey was the Orioles’ first-round pick (22nd overall) in 2013 out of high school in North Carolina and eventually wound up with the Nationals, where he had a couple of […]
There’s a surprise signing, filling up our cups between Christmas and New Year. It’s a pretty significant – and risky – upside play in the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen, and this time it’s not a soft-tossing 2025 Rangers reliever ! Mold broken!
The Cubs are reportedly adding hard-throwing righty Hunter Harvey:
Reliever Hunter Harvey and the Cubs are in agreement on a deal, pending physical, league sources tell me and @sahadevsharma . — Will Sammon (@WillSammon) December 27, 2025
T...
Here is another photo courtesy of BCB reader Clark Addison. This is obviously taken from the concourse behind the right-field bleachers, sometime before a game started, early enough so that no starting pitchers have been posted. All we have are the matchups, and we know this is a day game and the Cubs are hosting […]
Gonna try to ACCOMPLISH A LOT today. Just feels like one of those Saturdays. Best of luck to you if you decide to do the same … (this is a subliminal message for Jed) …
We mostly focus on free agent starting pitching around here these days because (1) there are still several impactful starters available and they WILL sign at some point, (2) the Tatsuya Imai posting deadline is just a week away , and (3) there was a little flurry of starting pitcher trades and the prices looked kinda nut...
This is traditionally one of the slowest weeks in Hot Stove Season. But January may bring some movement. *means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} 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 […]
The Cubs had struggled early in 2018, but a 16-7 run from May 27 to June 20 had put them into a first-place tie with the Brewers at 42-29. Then they went on a disastrous road trip to Cincinnati and Los Angeles where they lost six of eight. The third of those games was against […]
As we await some more signings to go down, and specifically await a couple key postings from Japan to resolve, I got to thinking about Chicago Cubs starting pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins. If all goes well for him in the first half of 2026, there’s a very good chance he could impact the big league team in the second half, much like Cade Horton did in 2025 ( I’ll be realistic and not dream on THAT much impact, but still – doesn’t even have to be that much to be significant! ). And that’s all r...
On the first day of Cubsmas My true love gave to me An Anthony Rizzo retirement for the ages, On the second day of CubsmasMy true love gave to meA $2 scorecardAnd an Anthony Rizzo retirement for the ages Like everything in society, the cost of going to a baseball game to enjoy America’s pastime […]
There are a couple of massive bullpen meltdowns in this group of losses. There are also a couple of games in which the opposition would simply not stop hitting home runs. I promise you there will be a “5 best Cubs games of 2025” article coming up next week, but I thought we’d start this […]
With postings for righty Tatsuya Imai and corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto coming just after the calendar flips to 2026, and with the Chicago Cubs still popping up in what thin rumors and speculation we see on these two guys, I said something off the cuff for fun.
Get ’em both:
Maybe the math won't work in the end, but it'd sure be fun as heck if the Cubs landed both Tatsuya Imai and Kazuma Okamoto. — Brett Taylor (@Brett_A_Taylor) December 23, 2025
I hadn’t really put any ...
The offseason has been relatively slow for the San Diego Padres. They re-signed pitcher Michael King and signed free agent Sung-Mun Song, but there has been little else to speak of since the 2025 season ended against the Chicago Cubs in the Windy City. If the months since have been slow for San Diego, the […]
Dreamt I was taking batting practice at Wrigley Field, which would’ve been the best Christmas gift ever. I kept peppering the center field wall, frustrated that I was making really good contact but couldn’t get one out of the park. So I remembered that I needed to get out in front and try to pull the ball to achieve my best power. Did it, and finally yanked one out, just barely.
In other words, I literally dream about players needing to pull the ball in the air more frequently if they wan...
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 Nelson Velasquez and other former Cubs. Today in baseball history: Cubs Birthdays: […]
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, well, aside from missing baseball. But even that is creeping even closer. As we kill the time between now, Cubs Convention, pitchers and catchers reporting and Spring Training let’s celebrate the Cubs BCB style with a look back at 12 outstanding moments from the Cubs 2025 season […]
Today is Christmas Day and also, today we stand just 91 days from the Cubs’ 2026 season opener against the Nationals at Wrigley Field. The Cubs have, well, not put much under fans’ Christmas trees, player-wise, yet. Perhaps we’ll all get some New Year’s gifts upcoming. I hope this holiday season, whatever holiday you celebrate, […]
Merrrrrry Christmas, my friends! I hope you are having a wonderful day of family, friends, gifts, breakfast pancakes, peace, and love. I will myself be relaxing to the extent the kiddos make it practicable, though I will mostly be hoping they have a great day.
Absent any EXTREMELY urgent breaking news or rumors or what-have-you (or if everyone in the house falls asleep and I get bored, which is always possible, and has happened some years in the past), I won’t have much in the way of Cubs...
Pete Fairbanks goes to Miami. *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 articles, podcasts, or videos […]