Brock Beauchamp

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!

I ignore one-run games, I just don't see any way to parse that into anything meaningful. As I mentioned above, I think tying pythag too closely to the manager has its own problems, I was only trying to point out it's one of the few metrics we have that might have ANYTHING to do with the manager in a way we can measure.

I wasn't trying to say that at all, only pointing out that one of the few indicators we have that MIGHT be correlated to the manager is discarded by many. Personally, I'm skeptical of what pythag means over the long run and am not ready to wholly attribute it to the manager.

How? Honest question. There are so many variables in a team year over year that the data is noisy. What part of it is the manager? What part the front office? The players themselves? Craig Counsell has a long history of beating the team pythag, yet people question whether that's a skill he has or just the team around him. Seems like if it was that easy to measure, we'd see lengthy studies proving or disproving it. I certainly haven't ever seen a study that's conclusive in any way but if you have, please share it.

I think a manager's presence in the clubhouse has a ton of value over 162 games. I also acknowledge we have absolutely no horsefeathers way to measure whether that is true or not.

I think it's probably more likely that managers are worth a lot more than that, we just have no idea how to measure it, which makes analytical teams hesitate to throw money at hunches.

While it's probably sensationalistic, if you break down small differences, it's not impossible. Matt clearly believes Ross is a below-average manager. He also clearly believes Counsell is an above-average manager. So let's say Counsell is +2 wins over average and Ross is -2 wins below average. That's a pretty reasonable place to start, right? So if you swap the managers, as Matt suggested in this article, you'd have a four-win swing from each team. It's not that the difference between the two managers is eight games; it's that if you swapped them between two competing teams, you stack those four wins twice, all in favor of a single team. Would reality play out that way? Probably not. It'd likely be a much smaller difference but given how the Cubs collapsed, maybe it's even larger. It's just so damned hard to determine how much of a collapse/streak is due to a manager's steadying/unpredictable presence. In any case, I think most of us can agree that Counsell is a net positive over Ross.

Nola is perhaps the free agent I'm most interested in following this offseason. I think he's a far more realistic target than Ohtani.

An absolute coup. NOBODY saw this coming. I have to admit my respect for Hoyer just jumped upward quite a bit.

It has been reported the Cubs are likely to entertain offers for Christopher Morel, reports Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. Morel, 24 years old, has posted a career 110 OPS+ over 854 career plate appearances. He's defensively flexible in the sense that he can hold a glove and stand in a specific spot but isn't known for being a plus glove anywhere on the field. His bat still has some projection in it given his age but unless it does, he'll likely remain a bat-first utility or 10th man in a lineup. Morel is pre-arbitration so he has years of team control remaining, which could make him appealing to a smaller market team with an open contention window. Given the Cubs' needs at several roster spots, it's hard to predict what kind of package they could be looking for in a Morel trade. View full rumor

Nothing is funnier than the Mets. They have their own hashtag, for crying out loud.

The payroll tool has been updated and is read for you to build your 2024 Cubs roster! This tool works better on desktop and tablet so we recommend waiting until you have some time to sit down on a large screen and fill out your roster and add commentary. https://northsidebaseball.com/payroll-blueprint You can mix and match any players and dollar figures you want. The only thing set in stone is Dead Money, the rest is entirely up to you. The "budget" is set right around expected payroll; this is merely a guideline to gauge whether you're under- or over-spending, there is no penalty for going over the number. After you've built your custom roster, use the Your Comments & Explanation field to explain your decisions and any potential trades you have executed to mold your roster. After you click Submit, your blueprint will appear in the Transaction Rumors & Proposals forum for other members of the community to comment on and discuss your choices. Enjoy, everybody! If you have feedback or questions, ask away.

I'm of the opinion they should strongly consider blowing it up entirely so payroll wouldn't be an issue anyway. In most cases, I think tanking is at best a middling decision but in the case of the White Sox, I don't really see an alternative. They won't spend their way out of their recent bad decisions and their farm sure as hell isn't going to save them.

I really don't get what the White Sox are doing. Given their status as a franchise, may as well take a flyer on Anderson in hopes of a rebound and July trade.

Okay, I'm pretty close to running the page as-is with the intent of making some improvements later in the offseason or for next offseason. If you see something that needs changing, please let me know. Thanks!

Yeah, most local memorabilia shops have web presences. I'm not really looking for a local brick and mortar, just someone who operates locally.

Two more questions: 1. Are there any local memorabilia shops you'd recommend? 2. What Cubs books do you recommend?

I really didn’t expect this. It’s not shocking but definitely surprising.

I'm putting together a gift guide and the Twins have Sota Stick, who make fun Minnesota-themed apparel and are a local company run by a few guys. Is there anything similar in the Cubs sphere? I'd much rather promote a small independent company over some massive corporation.

True, which is part of the reason why I'm lukewarm on signing Bellinger. I won't hate it if the Cubs go that route but if I was in the big chair, I'd probably go a different direction for a few reasons.

What about the baseline for budget? Should I keep it at $190m or should it be higher? You can blow right by the budget with no ramifications from the tool, I'd just like to start from an agreed-upon number.

Thanks for the input! We only rolled this out at the last minute in 2022 and you have some good ideas, especially about dead money in trades. I'll have to think over how to handle that aspect.