https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/161/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/podcast-this-is-not-a-rebuild-nov-6-2023-the-2023-chicago-cubs-offseason-begins-in-earnest-r426/We recorded this episode of This is Not a Rebuild on Sunday night, well before the world (including the four of us) knew that Craig Counsell would be the first big arrival of the winter. As such, our conversations centered mostly on the contract options exercised and declined, and on the multipl...426Tue, 07 Nov 2023 15:07:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/so-what-exactly-makes-craig-counsell-so-much-better-than-david-ross-r425/I don't think the Cubs viewed David Ross as a problem. Never take an organization's public remarks, especially about something like personnel status, at face value, but when both Jed Hoyer and Tom Ricketts voiced support for Ross at the end of the regular season, I think they were both being tru...425Tue, 07 Nov 2023 12:06:18 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/holy-horsefeathers-cubs-hire-craig-counsell-as-new-manager-r424/Jed Hoyer has, somehow, outdone and upstaged his longtime partner and mentor, Theo Epstein. When Craig Counsell became a managerial free agent last week, Hoyer quietly went to work, and he has now pulled off a managerial coup as big (in a vacuum) as the Cubs landing Joe Maddon nine years ago. In...424Mon, 06 Nov 2023 18:41:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/early-decisions-bring-cubs-plan-a-bit-more-into-focus-r423/After Marcus Stroman opted out of his deal Saturday, the Cubs had an easy call on Kyle Hendricks's $16-million club option Sunday. It's still possible for the team to sign him to an extension that would lower his annual average salary and make it easier for the team to stay below whichever thres...423Mon, 06 Nov 2023 16:26:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/news-marcus-stroman-opts-out-shaking-up-cubs-rotation-etch-a-sketch-r421/By the end of the 2023 regular season, several reports had suggested that Marcus Stroman would eschew the opt-out in his three-year deal with the Cubs and return to the team for 2024, at a $21-million salary. That made sense, given the brutal July and injury-stunted August and September that rui...421Sat, 04 Nov 2023 16:18:08 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/destination-the-show-episode-11-r416/The World Series concluded while we were recording. What better time to reflect on each organizations top prospects? As we get ready to enter the offseason, JD and Jeremy break down the Just Baseball Top 100 Prospects list in depth, digging into 2023 numbers for Matt Shaw, Kevin Alcantara, Owen...416Thu, 02 Nov 2023 15:15:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/reflecting-on-the-2016-world-series-championship-anniversary-r415/“Just One Before We Die” This was not just an awesome OBVIOUS SHIRTS tag, but a mantra that carried a fan base through systemic futility. The franchise had long owned phrases such as “Lovable Losers” and “cursed”, building it into the fabric of their identity. National coverage of the Cubs...415Thu, 02 Nov 2023 11:11:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/chicago-cubs-trade-target-jorge-mateo-r413/A list of players who might be non-tendered is, inherently, full of guys with obvious and important flaws. After all, to be non-tendered is to have a team proactively elect to cut ties with you, even though they hold the right to keep you for less than the market price. Occasionally, a player be...413Wed, 01 Nov 2023 11:00:35 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/candid-from-the-confines-im-back-baby-r410/In 2019, I ended my time as a Chicago Cubs season ticket holder. It was an extremely difficult decision, as my love of the Cubs is great. I started in the middle, though. Let me catch you up on my history. I became a Cubs fan the same way a lot of folks do: family. I am a from-the-cradle Cub fan...410Tue, 31 Oct 2023 18:10:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/what-would-a-juan-soto-centered-cubs-offseason-look-like-r407/We should be clear: Juan Soto is a phenomenal baseball player, and getting excited about the possibility of him becoming available in trades next month is only natural. There's no question that the Cubs' interest in the superstar is legitimate, because anyone who isn't at least interested in Sot...407Mon, 30 Oct 2023 11:17:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/chicago-cubs-trade-target-josh-naylor-r406/There really shouldn't be any particular urgency for the Cleveland Guardians to jettison Josh Naylor. He's a livewire personality. His brother is their catcher of the present and future. He's even under team control for another two years. Alas, where the Guardians are concerned, "shouldn't" does...406Sat, 28 Oct 2023 11:12:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/dansby-swanson-won-the-only-defensive-award-you-should-care-about-r404/The Gold Gloves are overpoweringly lame. They're a worthless farce, made only slightly more preposterous by the fact that the league now foists fake "finalist" discourse on us each fall in conjunction with them. Rafael Palmeiro, famously, won a Gold Glove at first base in a year in which he prim...404Fri, 27 Oct 2023 12:01:02 +0000