https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/78/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/two-minor-league-signings-build-cubs-outfield-depth%E2%80%94but-for-which-reason-r1525/The Cubs signed outfielders Greg Allen and Travis Jankowski to minor-league deals Friday, and both players are reporting to big-league camp. Both are 30-something guys with very little power and ample speed. Jankowski, who will turn 34 in June, hit an appalling .200/.266/.242 in 2024 and became...1525Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:26:56 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/lets-road-trip-cubs-2025-trip-11-from-clydesdales-to-canada-r1472/St. Louis Cardinals - August 8-10 Busch Stadium - Capacity 44,383 2024 Attendance: 2,869,783 (Averaged 35,872, ranked 6th out of 15 NL parks, 7th overall MLB) The Cubs don't have any cool trips to St. Louis this season, only steamy ones. Busch Stadium should be rocking for this classic...1472Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:09:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/lets-road-trip-cubs-2025-trip-10-two-big-rivals-close-to-home-r1471/Chicago White Sox - July 25-27 Rate Field - Capacity  40,615 2024 Attendance -  1,976,344 (ranked 8th out of 15 AL teams, 19th overall MLB) The cross-town battle in August 2024 saw the Cubs take two from the floundering White Sox on the South Side. Both games were decided by two...1471Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:03:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/does-matt-shaws-defense-even-matter-r1523/Last year’s Cubs were the second-worst team in baseball in matters of defending the hot corner. Their -15 Outs Above Average was ahead of only the Cincinnati Reds. Christopher Morel himself accounted for an OAA of -11. His replacement, Isaac Paredes, also finished below the average threshold (-...1523Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:57:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/nico-hoerners-last-stand-r1522/If you only look at his forearms, it's easy to dream on Nico Hoerner taking a big step forward in the power department as he enters his mid-20s; it just requires a change of approach. If you look only at his swing speeds and exit velocities, it's impossible to imagine him ever tapping into more...1522Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:05:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/predicting-the-chicago-cubs-daily-lineups-after-acquiring-justin-turner-r1519/In response to losing out in the Alex Bregman sweepstakes, the Chicago Cubs signed Justin Turner to a one-year deal worth $6 million this week. It's expected that Turner will serve as the backup first baseman to Michael Busch, and may also get some occasional starts as the Cubs DH. With Turner p...1519Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:32:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/kevin-alc%C3%A1ntara-gage-workman-and-daniel-palencia-stand-out-in-cubs-cactus-league-opener-r1520/The Chicago Cubs drubbed the Los Angeles Dodgers in their season opener Thursday. If you're in a certain kind of headspace and it would be helpful, feel free to ignore the fact that it was the Cactus League opener, and that the game's biggest single blow was a three-run home run by obscure prosp...1520Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:14:08 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/with-alexander-canario-officially-out-of-the-picture-outfield-depth-becomes-even-bigger-need-for-cubs-r1518/To make room for new signee Justin Turner, the Cubs designated Alexander Canario for assignment Thursday morning. That was an increasingly likely possibility with each passing move to overhaul Chicago's bench this winter, and we're now up to five such moves: Carson Kelly signed on as the...1518Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:26:21 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/make-or-break-players-for-cubs-in-2025-jordan-wicks-r1517/Jordan Wicks has long been a favorite of mine, as he's steadily climbed the minor-league ranks since being picked 21st overall in the 2021 MLB Draft. I was extremely encouraged by his 2023 debut, before things came crashing down last year. The relatively soft-tossing lefty has a devastating...1517Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:43:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/can-the-cubs-get-away-with-using-justin-turner-as-a-pinch-hitter-for-pete-crow-armstrong-r1515/Matt Shaw will man third base during the 2025 campaign, with Jon Berti as the backup. Justin Turner is too old to play such an active defensive position, but what he's not too old to do is crush baseballs in big spots. The youth movement at the third base and center field positions is important;...1515Thu, 20 Feb 2025 00:10:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-kyle-tucker-trade-is-the-only-thing-holding-up-an-otherwise-rough-cubs-offseason-r1514/After landing Kyle Tucker, Chicago was "in" on names like Alex Bregman, Roki Sasaki and Tanner Scott. It ended up with none of them, though, and had to shop on the discount rack instead. That's not a knock on some of the signings, like veteran infielder Justin Turner. Turner agreed to a dea...1514Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:05:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-cubs-outfield-defense-might-be-their-secret-source-of-major-improvement-r1516/Late last week, MLB.com’s Mike Petriello published a piece in which he examined the most improved defenses among contenders (while also expounding on a pair of clubs who got worse on that side of the ball). I found it quite interesting that the Chicago Cubs were listed among the three teams with...1516Wed, 19 Feb 2025 12:45:34 +0000