Brock Beauchamp

@matto1233

I’m 98% sure Jeff had his tongue in his cheek but for the other 2%, you’d have to check with him.

The article isn’t meant to be taken seriously, though.

Will do, I've been meaning to check in with him anyway!

I just noticed you tweeted from Aram in this piece. Cool! He does work for us on Twins Daily and Brewer Fanatic, expect to see him produce some Cubs videos in the near future.

Welcome to NSBB and thank you for the great comment! There is certainly a risk that Ohtani is never an elite pitcher again but should that happen, I think he starts playing the field. He's certainly athletic enough to man a corner position, either in the outfield or infield. The primary thing holding him to DH until now has been the pitching.

Daniel Kramer of MLB.com is reporting that the Mariners are unlikely to pursue free agent Shohei Ohtani this winter. The Mariners were considered players for Ohtani as we approached the offseason. One fewer team in the mix is good news for the Cubs, who are expected to be aggressive pursuing the two-way player this offseason. Additionally, rumors are circling that Ohtani plans to make a decision early in the offseason, perhaps even before the Winter Meetings in early December. The major players in the race for Ohtani are the usual suspects: Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, and Cubs. Given the sky-high asking price Ohtani will demand, two-thirds of baseball teams were out of the running before it began. Stay tuned, we'll cover any and all Ohtani news as it happens. View full rumor

Now that non-tender day has come and gone, the free agent list is as robust as it will be all winter. The Cubs have many, long-reaching choices in front of them. With the departure of Cody Bellinger and Marcus Stroman in free agency, the team is considerably worse now than it was on the final day of the season. Unfortunately, the positional player market is the thinnest we've seen in years. But the pitching free agent class it quite deep, if not particularly great at the ace level. View full rumor

Alright, that bar is awesome.

Welcome to NSBB!

Somehow I missed that Banks is holding... four bats? Why?

I know some people feel differently but I'm not all that keen on Bellinger for three years and especially not the 5+ he's likely to get from someone in this pathetically thin positional market. Go all-in on Ohtani, plz.

I just received a PM that a poster in southern Illinois has been seeing extremely long load times for the past few days, like 10+ seconds at times. I'm in the Twin Cities and haven't seen this at all. Anyone else suffering from this malady?

Angelos is gone! He sold to an investment group.

FOCO is a partner with North Side Baseball and support of their products helps support this site; 100% of the funds/materials received from these promotions go directly to our users in the form of prizes and gifts. Every diehard Chicago Cubs fan remember the famous phrase, “Let’s Play Two,” from Ernie Banks that he used jokingly on a 100-degree day at Wrigley field when they were set to play a game in 1969. The Cubs were so tired from the heat not even hours before the game they had to play had even begun and Ernie shouts out to his teammates: “Let’s Play Two.” The phrase just stuck with reporters and they used it and the phrase became one of Ernie’s iconic phrases. Earlier this morning, our friends at FOCO has released a super cool bobblehead that they call the Ernie Banks Chicago Cubs Let’s Play Two Bobblehead. The bobblehead features Ernie taking a knee in his home white Chicago Cubs uniform with a huge grin on his face with the four bats being held laying against his knee which is a famous pose of Ernie in the dugout next to his teammates. Ernie is sitting on a round green grass-looking base with his name across the front decal of the bobblehead. This bobblehead goes for $80 retail standing proudly at 8 inches tall with 123 units available for preorder now on the FOCO website. Like all FOCO bobbleheads, each one is hand-crafted and painted so that no two pieces look exactly the same creating a unique and diverse look to each bobblehead the company releases. Make sure to pre-order your Ernie Banks Chicago Cubs Let’s Play Two Bobblehead now before this memorable collectible is all gone! Go Cubby Blues!!

Me, a Twins fan, upon seeing Emilio Pagan's name in print (and yes, I realize he was good in 2023):

Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic are reporting the Cubs might be interested in signing first baseman Rhys Hoskins. Hoskins, who will be entering his age 31 season in 2024, missed all of the 2023 season with a torn ACL he suffered in Spring Training. He has a career 125 OPS+ and should he return to form, is one of the more potent bats available in this weak free agents position player class. The Cubs have options at first base but if they're truly interested in trading Christopher Morel and do not re-sign Cody Bellinger, first base is wide open. It's unlikely the team will be keen to hand the job to Matt Mervis on Opening Day so it's likely they do some amount of roster shuffling to improve the team at first. Hoskins is probably the best bat and will likely be looking for a short-term contract to reestablish value so the deal makes sense from both sides. It should be noted Hoskins is a Boras client. View full rumor

As a Twins fan, I can give some opinions about Polanco. He's wildly underrated and a professional hitter. He's aging into some questionable defense at second but can still hold his own. He played some third this year and while it's not an ideal fit, he makes it work. He's absolutely the kind of guy you want hitting 1-2 or 5-6 in a lineup. He's gonna give you a stabilizing presence from both sides of the plate. But the injuries are a real problem and it's hard to predict what you're going to get from him. His ankle is a recurring problem and has hindered several years of both hitting and defense. Twins' ownership are being horsefeathers asshats and limiting payroll right in the middle of a run at contention. That means it's more likely Polanco could be traded and the price won't be astronomical.

With the abruptly-ended GM Meetings now over, reporters are putting together their notes and while the Cubs have remained mum on the subject, rival executives expect the North Siders to be in play for Ohtani this winter. When Ohtani posted to MLB, he almost exclusively negotiated with west coast teams before landing with the Angels (a decision he surely regrets at this point). While he didn't speak to any New York or east coast teams, he did take the Cubs' calls. We really have no idea what is in Ohtani's head, as he's been very quiet on his expectations. He'll also basically write his own contract. If he wants a 13-year deal, he'll get it. If he wants an 8-year deal with an enormous AAV, he'll get it. If he wants opt-outs every two years, he'll get it. Pure dollars are not going to get it done in this specific case and, unlike most free agent deals, teams will be selling themselves to Ohtani. Can the Cubs make a compelling pitch? Several rival General Managers seem to think so: View full rumor

Are they trying to increase his positional flexibility for the 2024 Cubs or another team? https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/cubs-trade-rumors-christopher-morel-first-base.html

FOCO is a partner with North Side Baseball and support of their products helps support this site; 100% of the funds/materials received from these promotions go directly to our users in the form of prizes and gifts. A disappointing finish to the 2023 season indeed, however, a bright future ahead for the Cubbie Blues. Finishing second in the National League Central and it was a positive season all in all as they posted their best 162-game regular season record since 2018, but not enough to surpass the NL Central champs, Milwaukee Brewers. Quite a few names on the trade block this offseason including trade deadline acquisition third baseman, Jaimer Candelario, who absolutely tore it up as soon as he touched down in the Windy City. Cody Bellinger, who has been linked potential trade talks to the New York Yankees or a potential return to the Cubs. Cubbies have great young talent and potential superstars who broke out in a big way last season and we are hoping to drive the momentum into building for the future in 2024. Let’s take a second to celebrate the accomplishments of Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ on capturing a gold glove award this past season with their very own bobbleheads from FOCO to pay tribute to the star players. These bobbleheads were released by FOCO earlier in the week and are labeled as blackout bobbleheads which means their warehouse is hard at work on creating the molds for these bobbleheads. Blackout bobbleheads are FOCO’s way of staying in the moment with current events in sports including breakout games, hot market, etc. This bobblehead stands proudly at 8 inches tall with 123 units available currently for preorder at a retail price of 75$. Like all FOCO bobbleheads, each one is handcrafted and painted so no two pieces look exactly the same creating a unique and diverse look to each bobble FOCO releases. Make sure to click on any one of the links in this article to purchase your Ian Happ & Dansby Swanson Chicago Cubs 2023 Gold Glove Award Bobblehead before they sell out. Go Cubbies and can’t wait to see these boys rock in 2024!