https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/165/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-two-places-where-cubs-have-greatest-need-according-to-fangraphs-r597/The FanGraphs Depth Charts pages can provide a handy snapshot of a team's position-by-position makeup. For the Cubs, right now, it indicates two dire areas of weakness. As you would probably guess, the Cubs rank very well at second base, shortstop, and left field, according to FanGraphs's De...597Mon, 12 Feb 2024 12:15:57 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-baseball-equivalent-michael-jordan-jackson-elvis-beatles/It's Super Bowl Sunday, and the eyes of the world will be on the game played in Las Vegas this evening. Somehow, that's even more true than ever before, because of the romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Baseball has never seen something like this. Here's why. For weeks, now, the...592Sun, 11 Feb 2024 12:14:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-trade-targets-two-marlins-pitchers-who-fit-the-roster-before-spring-training-r594/With pitchers and catchers set to report for the Cubs on February 14th, the team could look to bring in a few more reinforcements on the mound ahead of the 2024 season.  The North Siders have already made a few moves to beef up their pitching staff, signing Shota Imanaga and Hector Neris for...594Sat, 10 Feb 2024 15:55:15 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/destination-the-show-episode-23-ben-badler-interview-r591/Draft tandem Jeremy Nygaard and JD Cameron team up for a podcast to discuss prospects on their way to the big leagues and the MLB draft, produced by Theo Tollefson. In episode 23 of Destination: The Show, Jeremy and JD are joined by Ben Badler of Baseball America. Ben talks about his journey...591Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:19:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/are-the-cubs-just-going-to-let-talent-melt-off-their-roster-this-spring-r593/On Wednesday, pitchers and catchers officially report for spring training. The Cubs' roster is incomplete; we know that much. What we don't know is how they'll address the places in which that roster is bloated, rather than emaciated. The Cubs are short on middle-of-the-order bats. The only...593Fri, 09 Feb 2024 12:14:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/free-agent-targets-cody-bellinger-matt-chapman-jordan-montgomery-blake-snell/On a Chicago radio appearance Wednesday, ESPN's Jeff Passan predicted that the Cubs will sign "one of the four Boras guys" who remain atop the free-agent market and dominate the headlines of this dwindling offseason. Which one should it be? Obviously, the focus for most Cubs fans over the la...589Thu, 08 Feb 2024 12:05:41 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/nick-madrigal-strikeout-rate-power-nico-hoerner-projection-systems/The moment the Cubs consummated their 2021 trade with the White Sox--the one that sent Craig Kimbrel to the South Side and netted the Cubs two big-leaugers under long-term team control--a countdown clock started ticking. It's coming right up on 0:00 now. To those who have closely watched the...588Wed, 07 Feb 2024 12:16:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/podcast-this-is-not-a-rebuild-feb-6-2024-the-worm-has-turned-in-barbecue-town-r587/As projection systems begin trying to predict the season ahead, the Cubs absiolutely refuse to endear themselves to any of them. We kvetch about that at some length. In their comfy, customary Monday night recording, Matt Trueblood, DJ Fochs, Tom Nurse, and Todd Trueblood get together for the...587Tue, 06 Feb 2024 21:17:37 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/2024-pecota-projections-nl-central-cubs-bellinger-cardinals/Baseball Prospectus has rolled out the first complete version of their PECOTA projections for 2024, and they don't shine a kind light on the Cubs, pending further additions. In the first PECOTA-projected standings for the coming season, the Cubs sit five full games back of the division-leadi...586Tue, 06 Feb 2024 12:15:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/top20-assets-justin-steele-dansby-swanson-pete-crow-armstrong-cade-horton-matt-shaw/Which players in the Chicago Cubs organization are most valuable to the goal of winning championships? Over the past couple of weeks, we have been counting down the Top 20 player assets. This should become your list, so feel free to add your thoughts, agree or disagree, and make your suggestions...585Mon, 05 Feb 2024 12:18:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/carl-edwards-jr-comes-back-as-a-whole-different-pitcher-r583/The most familiar of the Cubs' non-roster invitees in the bullpen is, paradoxically, not at all the pitcher you remember. He's still essentially himself, but an incredible number of things have changed. You remember Carl Edwards Jr. as the guy with the high-riding mid-90s fastball and the si...583Sat, 03 Feb 2024 12:24:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/one-bill-james-study-to-give-you-a-little-more-confidence-in-cody-bellinger-r582/The key to Cody Bellinger's 2023 resurgence was a profound change in approach, which yielded a huge decrease in his strikeout rate. One essential question around his free agency has been: Is that sustainable? When he first came up, Cody Bellinger could both hit for power and make contact at...582Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:19:01 +0000