https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/82/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/free-agent-first-baseman-connor-joe-mark-canha/Michael Busch played 152 games in 2024, starting 135 of them. Quickly, the rookie proved he didn't need to be platooned at first base, and his impressive progress with the glove eventually led the team to eschew using Cody Bellinger there for any meaningful time. The Cubs are so confident about...1360Tue, 31 Dec 2024 14:34:06 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/hey-fun-cubs-sign-ben-heller-one-of-our-offseason-handbook-minor-league-free-agent-targets-r1359/In our Caretakers-exclusive look at six minor-league free agents who could help the Cubs' pitching staff in 2025, I ranked the select half-dozen hurlers from most to least desirable. All six had things to recommend them, or else I wouldn't have profiled them, but I felt it was important to put t...1359Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:54:42 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/why-tanner-scott-might-be-the-exception-to-jed-hoyers-rule-about-long-term-big-money-reliever-deals-r1358/At his end-of-season press conference, Jed Hoyer admitted that the strategy he pursued to build a viable bullpen in 2024 was flawed and vowed that he would elect a different one this offseason. While he was right in his diagnosis, I was skeptical of the treatment he claimed to be prescribing. Th...1358Mon, 30 Dec 2024 17:04:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-key-to-understanding-sammy-sosas-career-lies-in-remembering-his-1996-season-r1356/The 1996 Cubs season began with a lot of hope. They had established stars Mark Grace and Sammy Sosa, and there was a certain measure of excitement and perceived momentum attached to the return of team legend Ryne Sandberg. After retiring once and missing all of the 1995 season, Sandberg came bac...1356Mon, 30 Dec 2024 12:46:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cubs-week-in-review-corbin-burnes-joins-snakes-matt-mervis-dealt-to-the-marlins-r1355/Were the Cubs not to make one move more this offseason, the acquisition of thrilling outfielder Kyle Tucker would still push the North Siders to the top of some experts' division prognostications. With boppers like Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch, a key positional reinforcement in catcher Carson...1355Sun, 29 Dec 2024 23:39:01 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/trade-analysis-vidal-brujan-matt-mervis/After non-tendering Mike Tauchman, Patrick Wisdom, and Nick Madrigal and trading Cody Bellinger and Isaac Paredes, the Cubs were left with a highly fluid bench—which is a nice way of saying that it was a bit of a mess. In one fell swoop Sunday, the team jettisoned a player who was overdue for an...1353Sun, 29 Dec 2024 18:49:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/top-25-most-viewed-north-side-baseball-articles-of-2024-part-2-16-20-r1352/The Cubs have a ton of top prospects. Then at the draft, they made third baseman Cam Smith their first-round pick. Weeks later, they traded Christopher Morel for Isaac Paredes. This offseason, the Cubs traded Paredes and Smith to the Astros (with Hayden Wesneski) in exchange for Kyle Tucker. So...1352Sat, 28 Dec 2024 22:48:22 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/top-25-most-viewed-north-side-baseball-articles-of-2024-part-1-21-25-r1351/2024 began with a lot of hopes and expectations. Along with the return of Cody Bellinger, rookies like Michael Busch and eventually Pete Crow-Armstrong stepped up and contributed to the big league roster. Shota Imanaga's rookie season really couldn't have gone much better. The lefty started out...1351Fri, 27 Dec 2024 20:26:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/cody-bellinger-starlin-castro-comparing-two-yankees-cubs-trades-a-decade-apart-r1350/The Cubs’ outfield has received a makeover this offseason, notably highlighted by the Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger trades. While they paid a fair price for the former, it’s very easy to question the return they got for the latter — reliever Cody Poteet and salary relief — given that Bellinger...1350Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:57:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/finally-acknowledging-joy-the-restoration-of-sammy-sosa-to-cubdom-is-a-good-thing-r1349/In case you missed it, Sammy Sosa issued a public apology for his steroid use last week. In response, team Chairman Tom Ricketts released a statement stating that he planned on inviting Sosa to this offseason’s Cubs Convention. As someone who was born in the 1990s, I sincerely hope that this is...1349Thu, 26 Dec 2024 12:52:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/remember-some-cubs-jason-heyward-the-current-record-holder-of-the-biggest-contract-in-cubs-history-r1327/Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of Jason Heyward’s time with the Cubs, I want to note that this article (and others like it) is done in conjunction with North Side Baseball’s Chicago Cubs Players Project. It’s a wiki-style project that anyone—including you, dear reader—can contribute to. Th...1327Wed, 25 Dec 2024 23:11:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/ghosts-of-trade-deadlines-past-what-if-ryan-dempster-hadnt-blocked-his-trade-to-atlanta-r1348/Exploring different "what-if" scenarios is not a unique idea, but this was somewhat inspired by the Disney+ series that explores the ripple effects of small decisions or actions within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, in this series, we’ll be looking at small decisions or actions in Chi...1348Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:33:02 +0000