Latest news and updates about the Cubs
How much do you remember from the last 12 months of Outsports stories? Test your knowledge! The post Play the Outsports ’12 Gays of Christmas’ Quiz of the Year! appeared first on Outsports .
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 Nicholas Padilla and other former Cubs. Today in baseball history: Cubs Birthdays: […]
Sports Illustrated | Delilah Bourque: The Yankees were provided a glimmer of hope in a potential pursuit of starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai. Voices around the industry have singled out the Yankees and Cubs as the likeliest landing spots for the NPB star, and sources recently relayed that Chicago is not one of his preferred landing […]
Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the jolliest joint for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. So glad to spread some holiday cheer with you. Come on in out of the cold. The mistletoe is over the door. The stockings are hanging by the chimney. There are still a few tables […]
Post-2025 MLB Off-Season Will Begin on Sunday 11/2 12/23 UPDATE : The Cubs signed non-tendered free-agent RHRP Jacob Webb to a one-year $1.5M contract, with a $2.5M club option for 2027. $500K in potential annual performance bonuses are also included in the deal. The Cubs now have 35 players on their MLB Reserve List (40-man roster), so five slots are open. Webb has no minor league options left, and because he has accrued at least five years of MLB Service Time he cannot ...
The Cubs signed Jon Jay as a free agent going into the 2017 season largely because Dexter Fowler had left and they needed a center fielder. Jay had a reputation as a good fielder, though not much of a hitter, and as a good clubhouse guy. And Jay was just that. Good in the clubhouse. […]
Were you an effective member of the 2025 Texas Rangers bullpen? Congratulations! You’re now on the Chicago Cubs! Following in the footsteps of Phil Maton and Hoby Milner , righty Jacob Webb is joining the rebuilt Cubs bullpen: Webb is set to make $1.5 million in 2026 with incentives that can push it to $2 million, league sources said. The option is worth $2.5 million with incentives that can push it to $3 million. https://t.co/FYmqCdkTCS — Will Sammon (@WillSammon) December 23,...
As we approach the end of 2025, it’s time to post various year-end reviews. So as has been my practice in previous years, I am today posting 10 of what I think are the best Cubs photos of the past season. The Cubs in Japan Here, the Cubs (first-base side) and Dodgers (third-base side) lineup […]
Japanese slugging corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto is available to MLB teams until January 4, at which time his posting period ends. Either he’s signed a contract by then, or he hasn’t, and that’s now less than two weeks away. I’d say things have to start heating up soon, but then again, we didn’t really hear much of anything on Munetaka Murakami until a few days before his posting concluded, and he ultimately signed a two-year, $34 million deal with the White Sox this weekend. Jon Heyman ...
After free agents and DFA’d guys were deleted from the Cubs’ 40-man roster last month, just 31 players remained. That seemed like a small number. So far this offseason, just three other players have been added back to that 40-man roster, leaving it at 34. I thought that still sounded pretty small, so I decided […]
Matt Shaw is in the news again, That’s all I’m going to say. Chase Strumpf is calling it a career. Framber Valdez and Pete Fairbanks are in the air. The next real event is the Cubs Convention, Friday, January 16, through Sunday, January 18, 2026. *means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. […]
Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the grooviest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re so glad to see you. Come on in out of the cold. We’ve got a fire going in here. There’s no cover charge. There are still a few tables available. Bring your own beverage. […]
There was a time when Rob Refsnyder was looking like a really good right-handed-hitting 4th outfielder/bench option for the Cubs, whose middle of the lineup might otherwise skew a little lefty-heavy in 2026 (at least in terms of the side where a lot of the production comes). But after the Tyler Austin signing , it seemed like the Cubs had probably found their righty bopper – even announcing him as an infielder and an outfielder, even though he hasn’t played the latter in years – and that ...
Before Miguel Montero became a Cubs postseason legend with his NLCS grand slam against the Dodgers and key hit in the 10th inning of Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, he pitched one inning for the Cubs. In 2016. In that great season. Yes, the Cubs needed a position player in a blowout. The […]
It’s a holiday week so you’d figure any deals made by teams, notably the Chicago Cubs, would be minor. And that’s what we have today: Christian Bethancourt is 34 and played in 24 games for the 2024 Cubs. In those games, covering 59 plate appearances, he batted .281/.305/.509 with three home runs and 15 RBI. […]
Although the Chicago Cubs got exceptional support from Reese McGuire this season as the veteran third catcher who’d come in on a minor league deal, it’s possible he’s going to be able to parlay that into a true back-up catching job this offseason. In the meantime, the Cubs decided to go ahead and grab this offseason’s obligatory veteran third catcher on a minor league deal, and it’s an old friend: Christian Bethancourt. Christian Bethancourt agrees to Cubs deal. $1.6M if in majors. &...
With the Cubs having added some players to the 40-man roster (which now stands at 34) since our first payroll look this offseason, I thought it was time for another article updating things as they stand as we head into the holiday weeks, where not much action is likely to happen. Before we get to […]
Thanks to the Steelers beating the Lions, the Bears have CLINCHED a playoff spot for the first time in five years. I want that top seed, though … I’m greedy … So, after all that silence, Munetaka Murakami winds up getting just two years and $34 million total from the Chicago White Sox. Oof. The writing was really on the wall about the size of the contract when the puff piece about Murakami maybe-being-the-next-Kyle-Schwarber came out. That was a tell that the previously-projected seven-...
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. Comiskey buys a team, Bobby Bonds, Ryan Freel, and more. RIP Ryan*. Today in baseball […]
Here’s one more from BCB reader Clark Addison. As I have noted in some previous sleuthing photos, this has to be from 2005 or 2006, one of the two seasons this century where the Cubs removed names from the back of home jerseys. The key to the year is No. 5. In 2005, that number […]
We do a lot of debating in the baseball world about whether “clutch” is a real thing, and, if so, the extent to which we can measure and quantify it. I won’t resolve that debate for you this morning. But I will tell you that, when it comes to QB1, clutch is ABSOLUTELY a thing, and Caleb Williams has it in spades . That throw-and-catch is going to be remembered and celebrated for a very, very long time. It’s not *quite* as good as the Caleb Williams throw, but it does still make me ...
“I want you to know that I am going to remain a loyal Cubs fan,” said Archbishop-elect Ronald Hicks, who will head the Archdiocese of New York after leading the Diocese of Joliet. “However, I am going to start rooting for the New York sports teams. And I already love your pizza. I love it […]
Here’s yet another one from BCB reader Clark Addison, and I cropped the photo at the top of the post to take away one significant clue. Can you figure out which game this is from just the Cubs waiting to greet the walk-off home run hitter at the plate? (It’s obvious it’s a walk-off home […]
Michael King is off the board, having signed a multiple-out deal to return to the Padres. Munetaka Murikami has to sign by Monday or go back to NPB. Tatsuya Imai’s posting window expires January 2. So there’s hope for some developments soon. *means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited […]
The Cubs bullpen was a strength for the Cubs in 2025 but with Andrew Kittredge returning to the Baltimore Orioles, Drew Pomeranz signing with the Los Angeles Angels and Brad Keller inking a two-year deal with the Phillies, the late innings of Cubs games will look a lot different in 2026. The Cubs have been […]