Brock Beauchamp

If any of you see this, can you scroll down to the ad that's wide and screenshot it? That might help narrow down the offenders.

Grrrrrah. Okay, will reach out to the ad provider again.

Welcome to NSBB! This is my fault, I meant to call that out in the edit but promptly forgot, juggling too many balls this weekend.

Because people seem to be transitioning away from X/Twitter, at least in some capacity, I was asked to expand the default embed options for other social media sites. The following sites will now embed natively on the site just as Twitter has since forever. 1. Instagram 2. Facebook 3. TikTok 4. BlueSky 5. Threads 6. Twitter/X

It's a new feature I'll be announcing in a few days. It's a resource for fans to find information and share player experiences for their favorite Cubs players of the past (and present, but mostly the past).

Now, that’s an unceremonious way to introduce Carlos Pena, he of 286 career home runs and two top-10 MVP finishes. He’s most certainly remembered more fondly for his tenure with the Tampa Bay [Devil] Rays, averaging 32 homers and 92 RBIs over five seasons. However, Peña would go on to sign a one-year, $10 million deal with the Cubs in free agency following the departure of long-time staple Derrek Lee (who will eventually get some love in his own addition to this series), with the Cubs hoping to provide Aramis Ramirez (ditto for him) some left-handed protection in the lineup. In retrospect, the Cubs have done well for themselves at first base over the last 15 or so years. Lee signed a successful five-year, $65 million deal that lasted until the 2010 deadline, and by the end of 2012, Anthony Rizzo was entrenched as the everyday man at the “cold corner.” In 2011, though, Peña held that role, giving the Cubs exactly what they wanted: 28 home runs, 80 RBIs, and an .819 OPS across 153 games. He was reliable and powerful and seamlessly helped the Cubs transition between franchise first basemen. His uppercut, lefty swing is somewhat reminiscent of an old Cubs heel, Brewers legend Prince Fielder, though Peña was always (ironically) a better fielder than Fielder. He won a Gold Glove with the Rays and was widely considered among the best defensive first basemen., Though the Cubs may have gotten him while he was aging out of his prime, Peña was a fun Cub to watch. The 2011 Cubs flamed out early and finished fifth in the division that year (out of sixth since the last-place Astros had yet to defect to the AL West). Theo Epstein would come in the next season and clean house, beginning his fabled “five-year plan” to build a World Series winner. Peña and the other veterans on the team were shown the door for the incoming youth movement, though their contributions to a fledgling team mired in a century-long curse were noteworthy. Of all the players throughout the storied history of the Cubs, Peña is an oddball choice to kick off a series like this. A one-year tenured player whose best days were with other franchises may not sound like a “legend” in the colloquial sense of the word, but Peña encapsulated so much of the “lovable losers” charm. Though fans nowadays will know him more for his occasional comments on Marquee, Peña was still a productive Cub. It also doesn’t hurt that he was one of the first players I remember considering a “favorite” as I was growing up a Cubs fan. And, hey, isn’t reminiscing on “our” guys the purpose of a series like this in the first place? If you have any Cubs players, executives, or coaches - historically noteworthy or otherwise - that you’d like to see get this treatment, please leave a comment below! View full player

This is a soft launch, thought I would put it out here so those of you interested can play around with it. The Players Project is open to all North Side Baseball users. If you want to add to a player or create a new player, please do so! Just hit the Players Project index page and check to make sure he doesn't exist using the search tool. We want to make this the first and foremost tool to find cool information about Cubs players. If you know of a link or an article that should be included, take 30 seconds and add it to the player link roll. Or if you're a baseball card fanatic, add a few for your favorite players. The sky here is the limit. This is meant to be for Cubs fans and by Cubs fans. The more esoteric and fun we make the project, the better it will be. The Players Project: https://northsidebaseball.com/chicago-cubs-players-project/ A brief tutorial on the project: https://brewerfanatic.com/help/all-help/how-to-use-the-milwaukee-brewers-players-project-r12/ (Tutorial is currently on Brewer Fanatic, I will be porting a version to NSBB soon)

Roki Sasaki has nudged Juan Soto out of the limelight, at least for a day. The young Japanese phenom announced he will come to Major League Baseball in 2025. Sasaki, unlike last year's import Yoshinobu Yamamoto, will post under the minor league rules due to his age and experience in NPB. Remember when Shohei Ohtani came to America to play and all teams were in on him? Same thing here. There will be no $300 million contracts in play as with Yamamoto, meaning most teams should be courting the young right-hander this offseason. Sasaki has been simply phenomenal in Japan. He pitched all of the 2024 season as a 22-year-old and only turned 23 this week. In parts of three seasons in NPB, he has a 2.10 ERA and 505 strikeouts in only 394 innings pitched. View full rumor

As a Twins fan, I can say that I'm hoping other teams drool over Duran and forget Jax exists. If I was an acquiring team, I'd choose Jax over Duran.

The ad provider thinks they've found the offending ad causing the viewport to blow up. Hopefully this problem is resolved.

I'm still in talks with our head developer about this. It's... confusing. It seemed straightforward until we really started talking about it, then we realized there are loads of caveats and templates we need to consider. It's definitely not off the table but it's a much bigger task than I originally envisioned.

LOL if only I went through that kind of effort.... This is a problem we saw a few years ago and I finally saw it myself on... maybe Brewer Fanatic...? earlier today. I'll reach out to our ad provider again and ask what is going on.

Welcome to NSBB!

Can you screenshot it when it happens next?

Yeah, damn it. This was an issue on other sites like two years ago, before we even relaunched NSBB. I'll see if I can root out the issue.

Is this on a phone? So like the screen is showing ads that stretch way to the right of the screen and make the screen "wobbly" for lack of a better term?

MLB Trade Rumors released their top 35 trade candidates for the 2024-2025 offseason. The only Cub to make the list was centerfielder Cody Bellinger, who may decide to opt out of his contract in a few days. At this point, Bellinger isn't a great fit for the Cubs. He's due to make $27.5 million in 2025 and has another opt-out clause following that season. The Cubs have Pete Crow-Armstrong roaming center and Michael Busch somewhat locked in at first base, making Bellinger a luxury on a team that doesn't seem eager to spend big in free agency this winter. Should Bellinger opt out, the Cubs will likely find suitors for his services. The center field free agent crop is thin this season and Bellinger would immediately become one of the best options available on the market. View full rumor

Nope, not the only one. He received two top-20 votes.

Patrick Mooney of The Athletic wrote a really nice piece about the Cubs' offseason pursuit of rotation arms. In it, he points out that historically, Jed Hoyer & Co. have avoided "bounceback" pitchers such as Luis Severino and Jack Flaherty. If they avoided that kind of pitcher on a lesser prove-it deal, it makes even less sense for this front office to pursue those same pitchers on a multi-year contract. Whereas the Cubs have shown interest, and ultimately signed, pitchers they believe can be workhorses with steady-but-maybe-not-great upside in Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga. In the case of Imanaga, the workhorse portion of that statement was certainly true but the performance level was beyond anyone's reasonable expectations. A pitcher that fits that mold this offseason is Max Fried. While the 30-year-old's ERA slipped a little in 2024 (128 ERA+), he has started over 25 games in three of the past four seasons. Give the article a read, it's a great early-offseason primer on how the Cubs might look at the rotation this winter. View full rumor

Can you screenshot this dead space and what's around it? I read this message multiple times and I'm just not understanding what you're seeing (which might be different from my viewport, dunno).

Outstanding work, Davy. Whew, that was quite a read, so much to process.