Brandon Glick

Cubs offseason trade target Jesús Luzardo is dealing for the Phillies this year. I still feel pretty good about this matchup.

Dave Martinez is a former MLB outfielder and current manager who spent parts of four seasons with the Chicago Cubs as a player and three years as bench coach. Martinez was originally a 40th-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers, though after returning to school, the Cubs snagged him in the third round of the 1983 MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase from Valencia Community College. After spending a few years honing his game in the minor leagues, Martinez finally got the call to the big leagues in 1986 as a replacement for the injured Bob Dernier. Outside of a 90-game stretch in 1988 where he was worth 2.5 WAR, Martinez mostly struggled in his first go-round with the Cubs, eventually getting traded at 23 years old to the Montreal Expos for Mitch Webster. He would go on to spend plenty of time with the Expos, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, and Chicago White Sox before becoming the first ever player traded by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization in 2000 (in exchange for Cubs southpaw reliever Mark Guthrie). Martinez again struggled in the Windy City, slashing just .185/.214/.241 in 18 games. Across all four of his seasons on the North Side (288 games), the outfielder was worth just 0.7 WAR and posted an OPS of .683. That second tenure did not last long, as later in that same season, the Cubs flipped Martinez to the Texas Rangers in a three-team trade that sent Chuck Smith from the Florida Marlins to the Rangers and Brant Brown from the Marlins to the Cubs. Then, for the third time(!) in the 2000 season, Martinez was traded, this time from the Rangers to the Blue Jays. By playing for four big league teams in the same calendar year, Martinez tied the MLB record, which is also held by Frank Huelsman (1904), Willis Hudlin (1940), Paul Lehner (1951), Wes Covington (1961), Mike Kilkenny (1972), Dave Kingman (1977), Dan Miceli (2003), and José Bautista (2004). Martinez played for the Atlanta Braves in 2001 before an injury ended his playing career. Of course, Martinez's legacy with the Cubs wasn't strictly limited to his on-the-field play. A longtime disciple of Joe Maddon, Martinez was the Rays' bench coach from 2008-14 before defecting alongside Maddon to Chicago. He was the team's bench coach from 2015-17, arguably the best three-year stretch in franchise history. Of course, the Cubs won it all in 2016, and Martinez was a beloved figure in the dugout. His departure for the Washington Nationals' top job prior to 2018 pre-dated Maddon's by two years, but I'll always remember how bittersweet it was to finally watch the Cubs become the envy of other teams as their top brass was poached. With the benefit of hindsight, it's easy to say Martinez's departure was the beginning of the end for that brilliant, championship-winning core. I'd be remiss not to note that Martinez won it all as the Nationals' manager in 2019, though his tenure has been rocky since as the club has undergone a systematic overhaul. Also, Martinez's replacement on the Cubs, Brandon Hyde, was similarly hired as a manger (of the Baltimore Orioles) one year later. Clearly, those Cubs teams had the coaching prowess to match the player talent. View full player

Does anyone else remember when Taijuan Walker was an up-and-coming arm for the Seattle Mariners? Where did the time go...

Mark Guthrie is a former MLB relief pitcher who spent 15 seasons in the big leagues, including parts of three campaigns with the Chicago Cubs. Originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth round of the 1986 MLB Draft, Guthrie returned to LSU for his senior season, ultimately falling to the seventh round in the following year's selection cycle before the Minnesota Twins scooped him up. Winning had a way of following Guthrie, as LSU won its first ever College World Series appearance with him atop the pitching staff in 1986. The Twins then won the World Series in 1987 after drafting him (while Guthrie was still in the minor leagues), and finally, the stars aligned, as Guthrie and the Twins won the 1991 World Series, the same year his alma mater won its first National Championship. Guthrie lasted parts of seven seasons in Minneapolis, converting from a starter to a reliever by the end of his tenure. Then, during the 1995 season, Guthrie was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he would serve primarily as the set-up man to two-time All-Star closer Jeff Shaw. Guthrie then headed to Boston in free agency, ultimately lasting just 46 games with the Red Sox before finding himself in Chicago in exchange for Rod Beck. Hand up, I legitimately did not remember that Guthrie pitched for the Cubs in 1999 and 2000. In fairness to myself, he only made 30 appearances during his first stop on the North Side before being traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the first trade in that franchise's history (the Cubs received outfielder Dave Martinez in return). After a brief tour of the country with the Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics, and New York Mets, Guthrie returned to the Cubs on a one-year deal, and this time, his tenure in Chicago was far more memorable. In 42 2/3 regular season innings for the Cubs in 2003, Guthrie authored a 2.74 ERA, somehow finding a way to shut opposing hitters down despite a 24-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Alongside Kyle Farnsworth (19 holds) and Mike Remlinger (17 holds), Guthrie (10 holds) served as a set-up man for closer Joe Borowski. It was a really strong quartet to have in the back-end of the bullpen... at least until the playoffs. Guthrie deserves plenty of credit for a brilliant final season with the Cubs, but he was disastrous in the playoffs, surrendering two home runs in just 1 2/3 innings pitched. Of course, nothing mattered more than the pinch-hit home run he surrendered to Mike Lowell in Game 1 of the 2003 NLCS, which gave the Marlins a crucial 9-8 victory. After that 2003 season, Guthrie signed a minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the writing was on the wall. After failing to make the roster out of spring training, Guthrie officially retired from Major League Baseball in 2004. View full player

Ahem. Today is the FINAL time the Cubs have to play the Dodgers in the regular season. AND if they win, they win the season series 4-3. So, uh, who's down for a sweep?

Happy Tuesday! It's... another game against the Dodgers. Yay. At least Shota is on the mound.

It's an Easter clash between the Cubs and D-Backs. A series sweep here would be sweet.

My heart can't handle another game like yesterday's. A blowout (that the bullpen actually holds) would be nice.

Pretty lowkey ninth inning all things considered. Good job Prez

Well now it's 1.675 so might as well DFA him

Going into this at-bat, Kelly has a 1.700 OPS

There have been 21 runs scored in the last four outs.

I gotta turn this game off. My vocal cords hurt

I say this in the nicest way possible, but Carson Kelly is totally cheating, right?

This is the best Linsanity run of all time. Carson Kelly is my GOAT

The Cubs spent all winter accumulating depth, but do they have the impact talent to replace their star southpaw? View full video

Yuuuuuup. He is shredded beyond belief nowadays. I hope Paul Wilson never planned on getting revenge. https://www.mlb.com/news/kyle-farnsworth-is-absolutely-jacked-now

Fun fact: the 12-9 Cubs are in first place in the NL Central. The 12-7 Diamondbacks are in 4th place in the NL West. Thank you, geography.

Kyle Farnsworth is a former MLB relief pitcher who played for nine teams across 16 seasons, including parts of six years with the Chicago Cubs. Originally drafted in the now-defunct 47th round of the 1994 MLB Draft out of high school, though he didn't sign until May 12, 1995, after playing briefly at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. A brash, hard-throwing pitcher with all the confidence in the world, Farnsworth trudged through the minor leagues for nearly half of a decade before finally getting the call to the big leagues as a starting pitcher. In his rookie campaign in 1999, Farnsworth made 27 appearances (21 start), pitching 130 innings and allowing a 5.05 ERA with ugly peripherals, including a 70-52 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He was officially converted to a reliever at the beginning of the 2000 season, though he would oscillate between terrible seasons and great ones out of the Cubs bullpen for the better part of the next five years. Ultimately, he pitched in 343 games for the North Siders (478 2/3 innings), accumulating 0.1 WAR and a 4.78 ERA. The consistency just never matched the overwhelming (at times) stuff, as Farnsworth would spend some years as the team's primary set-up man (2001) and then the next exclusively in mop-up duty. But, you're not here for the stats, are you? Farnsworth was a walking headline, generating outrageous stories on an annual basis. The one I'll focus on here is obviously the most infamous: a suplex of Paul Wilson. Yes, on June 19, 2003, Farnsworth upset Reds pitcher (and former No. 1 overall pick) Paul Wilson by pitching him a little too far inside, leading to Wilson taking one too many steps toward the pitcher's mound. Farnsworth needed no further invitation, pile-driving Wilson into the dirt before landing a few haymakers as the benches cleared. It's one of the most one-sided baseball fights in history (no fact-check needed) — look at Farnsworth and Wilson at the end of the video. There is a discrepancy in the punishment each one took. Speaking of punishment, Farnsworth received a three-game suspension for his role in the brawl, eventually getting it reduced to two. All in all, I'd say he got off pretty light. In terms of other notable stories from Farnsworth's Cubs tenure, he was the winning pitcher in the final baseball game played at Three Rivers Stadium on October 1, 2000. Also, he served a disabled list stint in 2004 after severely injuring his leg by kicking an electrical fan in the Cubs dugout after getting lit up by the Houston Astros. Ah, good times. Anyway, after the 2004 season, Farnsworth was traded to the Detroit Tigers for for Roberto Novoa, Scott Moore and Bo Flowers. That would begin the journeyman phase of his career, as he pitched for the Tigers, Braves, Yankees, Tigers (again), Royals, Braves (again), Rays, Pirates, Mets, and Astros between 2005-14. He was never particularly great outside of one dominant year as the Rays' closer in 2011, but he was a bullpen tone-setter everywhere he went. He also pitched in four different postseasons, including 2003 with the Cubs, but I've chosen to skip his performance during that playoff run for (what should be obvious) reasons. Farnsworth retired officially following the 2016 season, eventually becoming an amateur league linebacker as God intended. View full player

The Cubs took two of three on the road against the mighty Dodgers, offering hope that they can compete with the National League's best in the race for the pennant. View full video