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About this blog

New Blog, Who Dis?

Here's the 5W's (Who, what, when, where, why) for this blog. I'll provide a real name for the blog soon. 

Who

I'm Dr. Robert Conan Ryan, although I won't make you call me Doctor. I've had many nicknames, and hopefully a new one will emerge from this blog. I hold a Ph.D. in Business Administration from U Pittsburgh and an MBA from U Delaware. My primary work involves academic research and teaching strategic management, entrepreneurship, business ethics, and management; however, I have a thorough background in economics. I've taught at 5 universities so far. I am a lifelong Cubs fan who was tempted to become a baseball economist when a student at U Delaware in the 2000's. We had two world-renowned baseball economists then.  

What

This is going to be a somewhat advanced blog with a high reading level - no clickbait here. I intend to tackle perspectives that are unique in Cubs media - not outlandishly unique, but generally counter to popular narratives. I emphasize three primary topics. First, over-rated/under-rated strategies for roster construction and team building. Second, applying strategic principles from outside the sport to unearth insights, such as from fields of business or economics. Third, pushing baseball metrics in new directions to unearth hidden advantages/disadvantages - especially, team-level stats. 

When 

I expect to release new pieces 2-4 times a month. 

Where

We shall see if I fit in here at northsidebaseball.com! 

Why

Because you won't see the same analysis anywhere else. My approach is to dispel media myths about conventional baseball strategy. Some fans will say: "finally, someone said it". 

 

 

 

Entries in this blog

Management Topics

Competitive Tiers: The Landscape in 2025

Hello Cubs World,       I was in the middle of prepping my slow cooker for chili, and an interesting thought exercise popped into my head.  Every once in a while, seismic shifts occur in a sport's competitive landscape: expansion teams, relocations, ownership change, and the like. Pretty soon, the collective bargaining agreement will expire. In 2 years, we could see a shuffling of many rules, especially related to player salary tax/cap/veterancy structures. However, teams are already p
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Management Topics

Assad's Camp Injury: A Blessing in Disguise?

Hello Cubs world,  like everyone else, I'm curious how this final roster shapes up. Given the short amount of time remaining to make deals before the season starts, I'll just wait and react rather than make any more predictions or analysis of the roster composition.  Assad and Birdsell Injury News Fans were a bit surprised to hear about these two injuries at this exact moment, given that the action is pretty light in early February. Javier Assad is facing an oblique injury and Bir
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Transactions and Roster Construction

Cubs Land Ryan Brasier: Why I love this move

Hello Cubs World, WELL ISNT THIS CONVENIENT!!! Jed's Dead with Delight Man, did this play right into Jed Hoyer's hand. You couldn't author a better situation for his brand of dealmaking = more importantly, it is a great fit for our swiss army knife approach to the bullpen. He wasn't even the worst 26th man on the Dodgers roster, just the odd man out for Kirby Yates by a small margin. Three lesser pitchers have Dodger jobs simply for role reasons, and the rest are projected to vie
Transactions and Roster Construction

PECOTA and MOJO : why my Cubs projections are slightly higher

Hey Cubs world,  I was happy to see the PECOTA projections, like most everyone else. The Cubs were ranked 3rd in the National League at 90.6 wins. However, I'm not a huge fan of PECOTA because it is a conservative projection system. I'll get into the simplest differences between mine and theirs.  Only 3 GREAT teams this year? Hmm. Nope.  PECOTA averages are....too averaged... because they are based too heavily on individual players as opposed to the special correlative effects bet
Transactions and Roster Construction

Assembling a Great Bullpen: Some Basics

Hey Cubs world,  I've spent my initial time blogging here about the Cubs moves for 2025. However, sometimes its good to pause and reflect on general principles of baseball and how to build winning teams.  In this post, I discuss a few basics of bullpen construction that fans often overlook.  Beating Rival Teams: Targeted Bullpen Design Wins Above Replacement is a generic approach to roster construction, and for that reason, can't be precise. If this were all that was necessar
Transactions and Roster Construction

Is Ryan Pressly Enough to Tip the Scales?

Howdy Cubs World- let's talk Pressly. [ Uh huh huh. ]  (Oh by the way- paid writers are mostly paid to edit. Unpaid writers give you a good enough draft.) Ok, first, the good news. we DID get a GOOD closer/setup veteran with a couple of elite pitches. Facts. And, he's got a resume of incredible work under pressure. He's a guy with a baller resume that you're glad to have in a post-season run.   The bad news: He's almost as risky as Hector Neris Last Year.  I hate to be a down
Transactions and Roster Construction

What stat is the Cubs' biggest need for improvement in 2025?

Hello Cubs world,  in prior posts, I've made the argument that our pitching is gonna be fine, so long as we land another serious closer/setup player to split duties with Hodge. The Cubs were 10th in starter ERA, and 6th after the All-Star Break. Their bullpen was stellar in August and September as well.  Long story short, this team needs to slug.  It can't play with the big boys without big bats. Let's take at look at last year's team slugging rankings. You will notice a clear pattern
Transactions and Roster Construction

How's Jon Berti as a Cub?

Hey folks,  let me clear my desk of the Tanner Scott issue first.  I'm none-too-happy about missing on Tanner Scott (and Kirby Yates, btw), but at least we "tried". I Think the Dodgers paid the right price. I had Scott as a 65 MM player on 3 years or 75 MM on four years (when you're in the bullpen, that extra guarantee is well worth a lower AAV). Dodgers went 4 years, 72 MM. Let' keep in mind, on a 4 year bullpen contract, you're paying for 1 year of injury time, whereas on a 3 year, y
Transactions and Roster Construction

Finishing the roster: The Ideal Cubs for 2025/2026

Okay folks, we're closing in on a finished roster. This article effectively ties together and concludes my first 4 blogposts here at northsidebaseball.com. Here I'll sum up my ideal roster moves remaining for Jed Hoyer, and how/why it leads to sustained dominance for 2026 and perhaps 2027.   First, Let's summarize the remaining contracts that I endorse to maximize the WAR of the 2025 Cubs.  1)  Sign Tanner Scott, LH Closer, 3/5 year contract, somewhat backloaded... 20 mil in 2025.
Transactions and Roster Construction

How Good is Michael Busch?

I'm taking a sidestep from the roster construction discussion for a moment to reflect on the upside potential of the dynamic duo of Pete-Crow Armstrong and Michael Busch.  Although the media has fallen in love with PCA already, they have been strangely silent about Busch.  Well, there's at least one clear reason for it: baseball media has greatly devalued the first base position in recent years. I mean, look at Pete Alonso's struggle to land a 30 million dollar year. Advanced statistics rea
Transactions and Roster Construction

Here's a Fun Topic: Who Should Replace Canario?

Hey all!  I appreciate all the readers of my first blogpost. I won't typically post twice in two days. I figured I'd keep this new blog momentum rolling, though, with a fun topic. In my first post I argued that Paul Dejong would be the best 1 year sub at 3B because of his combination of glove and power. In this Scenario, Shaw starts at Second for Hoerner and then slides into a platoon at 3rd with DeJong. We still haven't sorted out the other two bench spots: 1) The 5th outfielder; 2) The le
Transactions and Roster Construction

Matt Boyd, now Colin Rea: What is This Strategy Anyway? 

Matt Boyd, now Colin Rea: What is This Strategy Anyway?  Let's get right into it, shall we? Many fans were disappointed by this dual signing of backend starters. Fans ALWAYS want to fill from the top of the depth chart - they wanted a new #1 or #2 (Max Fried, Garret Crochet) or at least a #3 to leapfrog Taillon (Walker Buehler, Luis Castillo). But there's more reasons to NOT do this than to do this - especially given the organization's strategy to cap salary at the tax line. Let's reflect o
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