Banks-Williams

It is not “well known” that they stopped mid 2018. The story didn’t break until after the 2019 season ended. There was no reason for them to stop. Heck, they won the ALCS and the WS because of their cheating — they had no problem with that. They didn’t stop them. Imagine how much money and notoriety they stole from the Yankees and Dodgers and others. And how could you possibly know such?

Woah! So you can read Shaw’s mind. You know that he has “white supremist beliefs” or is there a public statement where he confirms such? Name players other than the 2017-19 Astros who cheated? And we’re not talking spit balls here. Face it, Bregman stole from his fellow players. Raise your kids to cheat and to admire cheaters. They’ll never make it in this world while feeling good about themselves.

He cheated his way to fame. His performance is just above average outside the cheating years. Those years skewed his overall numbers. Take a look at them before you say how great he is …

Absolutely. I was highly critical of Counsell playing his starters every day in the July/August heat in 2025. I said he was doing a ‘69 Durocher. Too bad he is not a student of history. He seems to be more concerned with studying his hair color and granting interviews.

Tucker was not on the 2017 team. And he barely played in ‘18-‘19. He was a rookie And there’s no evidence he knew about the cheating. His performance improved post 2019. I don’t ask for athletes to be perfect persons. But stealing is a crime I won’t tolerate. Too bad you don’t see that, or you’re okay with it. Bregman et al took the wealth of other players, And they thought it was fun. Hoyer is a knucklehead for hiring a thief.

I surely hope you are correct. I would hate to see him leave. If only they could do a Paredes with Bregman, except faster.

They should have kept Shaw as the 3rd base starter. He was coming around hitting-wise. Plus, he’s going to be the best 3rd base fielder in either the National League or the American. I doubt Bregman will ever win a golden glove going forward, but based on Shaw’s 2025 performance, he’ll get a few. Too bad it probably won’t be for the Cubs. Bregman was a big waste of money. His best years were when he knew the pitches being thrown at him. After his cheating years, he was average or just a little above par. Shaw will be way above par going forward. Mark my words. I watched his every game in the majors. All they have to do is get Shaw to cease the left leg lift. It throws off precision for contact.

Matt Shaw is an excellent ball player. The plays he made at 3rd in 2025 were golden glove material. All he needed to do was improve his hitting. The front leg movement added a completely unnecessary movement to his swing, which is an unnecessary variable. The only variables batters need to face are pitch speed, location, and break. Any hitting coach could have explained such to him. That’s all he needed basically. I would not have replaced Shaw with the cheater. I surely don’t see better fielding, nor better hitting once Shaw comes around. Too much $$ wasted too. And the cheating thing, I which I’ve already commented on.

What they do on their own time is their business. At they do on the job — and get caught doing — is my business. You are right: I can spend my money elsewhere. But if I can get rid of Hoyer for being an idiot, I’ll take that too. It is good to teach kids that you can make a difference. I don’t teach them that multiple wrongs make a right or make it even okay.

You know what? Baseball is a family sport. Parents take their kids to the game so they can admire persons who became successful through hard work and skill. But you, you, think it is fine to tell them to admire cheaters? I’m glad you weren’t my parent.

I don’t give two hoots about your morals. But I don’t want to take my kids to Wrigley to see cheaters. I raise them otherwise.

His batting average and home runs were never close to those of the cheating years: 284-296 v. 242-273 and 31 and 41 v. 26 tops.

Well Bellinger is much better than Bregman both morally and statistically.

Well if this was his decision, he should be fired. Bregman’s stats post cheating era are that great. Plus who wants someone associated with cheating on their team

You prefer cheaters eh? That says a lot about you.

Did what? They signed a loser from the Astros cheating team!

Terrible decision!! Cubs management needs to be replaced. We don’t need cheaters on the Northside team. Just compare Bregman’s stats ftom the 2017-19 Astros cheating years to those post cheating revelation. And listen to what Bellinger said about them. I doubt Bellinger would ever play for the Cubs with Bregman on the team since the Astros stole the 2017 World Series from the Dodgers.

Fits perfectly into their clubhouse??? Since when do cheaters fit in perfect with the Cubs team? Bregman was on the Astros 2017-18 team, which got caught stealing signs. The sign stealing scandal did not break until late 2019 — so they were likely doing it that year as well. The MLB investigated the cheating, determined it was indeed being done but didn’t issue a report until January 2020. Cody Bellinger said the Dodgers suspected the cheating then since the Astros batted so much better in Houston during the 2017 World Series. Not only did Bregman et al. steal the World Seties ftom the Dodgers 4-3, but they also which stole the ALCS from the Yankees 4-3. Bellinger also accused Altuve of stealing Judges MVP. Take a look at Bergman’s stats. He had his best performances during those years by far. Never to be repeated post cheating revelation. In 2017-19, Bregman batted 284, 286, and 296, respectively (but not respefully). Those numbers were never repeated. Following the cheating revelation, he only batted 242-273. Further, in 2018-19 he hit 31 and 41 homers, but never came close to such numbers again. The Cubs have made a huge blunder by signing this cheater. He doesn’t deserve to be on any major league team, especially the Cubs whose fans are top notch. We do not want to be associated with cheating EVER!!! I will heckle Bregman at every chance at 3rd until he leaves the Northside.

Evidently Counsell didn’t read this article, he’s otherwise not informed, or he is informed and doesn’t care if the top of line-up gets to see him 3 times. Counsell’s lack of common sense (based on his starter decisions for games 1 and 2) would indicate that Shota will be starting after Drew deals with the top of the order. If it is Shota over Rea, Counsell should get some counseling.

I don’t know what “cringiest” means or if it is even a word … but what I wrote is factual. Not only does Counsell have terrible judgment, but he also lacks honesty. He takes no responsibility for his poor decisions on games 1 and 2 but instead blames the players. He says they need more hits, and that they’ve got to put pressure on the Brew’s defense.

I said I would have started Brown on game 4 or 5. I would not have started Imanaga. Either he or Soroka would have been pulled ftom the roster. I would have started Assad game 1.

I already showed the data: Assad was pitching better than Boyd heading into the NLDS. Plus, he was fully rested (5 days). Nobody can predict the future, but you can estimate it. I said game was going to be a disaster. It was, I also wrote here that game 2 was going to be a disaster. It was. I further wrote that the Cubs should win game 3 since Counsell didn’t have the opportunity to pick. They won. I’m batting 1000. Counsell is batting 0. And I haven’t spent my lifetime in baseball. Counsell has done so, but he still gets it wrong. That tells you, he has bad judgment because it is not for experience lacking. You can’t teach good judgment. It is genetic, deep in the brain. In short, Counsell can’t be fixed. He has to go.

Assad, Rae, Taillon, Boyd, and Brown were all pitching better than Imanaga heading into the NLDS. And Assad, Rae, Taillon, and Brown were doing better than Boyd then too. And Assad was fully rested and ready to go for game 1. Why use the guy who is not fully rested and not pitching well? That’s crazy risk taking.