Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

Reese McGuire filled in admirably for the injured Miguel Amaya, hitting a career-high nine home runs over 140 plate appearances as Carson Kelly 's backup. That wasn't nearly enough to entice the Cubs to tender him a contract at anything approaching his $1.9 million projection, so they told him to beat it. Or, more accurately, they simply chose not to tender him a contract for the 2026 season.

Morel finished the 2024 season with a 50 OPS+ in 49 games with the Rays, hitting three home runs and driving in only nine runs. For the season, he slashed .196/.288/.346 with an 81 wRC+ and -1.0 fWAR.

Not only was my wife dealing with a potentially life-threatening health scare last week, but I ended up developing a sinus infection before then throwing my back out while cleaning up leaves. My situation isn't anywhere near as significant as hers; it's just that we were both laid up and somewhat out of it all weekend.

While getting Naylor might have worked out well, they sure dodged a bullet by failing to pull off a deal for the reliever. It sure doesn't look like either pitcher involved in the scandal will play in MLB again, and jail time is a distinct possibility. Luis Ortiz might end up getting the worst of it because Emmanuel may be able to plead his felony down to a Clase misdemeanor.

We knew the Cubs' defense was good, but now we have proof. This is the second time the Cubs have won the award, which was established in 2020.

She's going to be a star," Stone told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com at the time.

The short answer is that it probably doesn't, as the combination of circumstance and sample makes a Yesavage redux nearly impossible to duplicate. Paul Skenes never should have pitched in the minors at all, yet the Pirates kept him at Triple-A for seven starts last year. Whatever brain genius decided on that path cost Pittsburgh a draft pick and a year of service time, which is all the more hilarious to me because of their skinflint owner.

The World Series starts tonight, but for Cubs fans, it's merely an impediment between this chilly Midwest morning and the official start of hot stove season. Most of us would love a sweep, though few outside of Los Angeles will root for the Dodgers as a prohibitive favorite. I can't help but dream of the time that Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were linked to the Cubs in trade rumors. Oh, what might have been!

The 2025 Fielding Bible Awards gave even more credit to the Cubs. Sports Info Solutions (SIS), the company that developed Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), honors the best defenders each year. It is the 20th season of the awards, although some recent changes have been made. Patrick Bailey of the San Francisco Giants won the third annual Defensive Player of the Year Award, while the Cubs were named the Defensive Team of the Year.

The back-and-forth between Brewers and Cubs fans has quickly become tiresome - and it's even more prosaic when White Sox fans get involved - but it shouldn't absolve Jed Hoyer. Analytics and voodoo magic aside, Chicago's North Side Baseballers have finished behind Milwaukee in the NL Central in every season since the 2018 tiebreaker game. That has to change. Hoyer may have to re-blueprint his roster as well. The potential loss of Kyle Tucker means finding left-handed power to replace him,

The Cubs' season is over, so it's time to conduct a post-mortem. There's a lot to cover, so today we'll only start the conversation and will build off it in upcoming episodes. The Brewers tried and failed miserably to troll the Cubs, and now the trolling-tables have been turned. The Brewers are just easy targets. And finally, Evan and I make our postseason predictions. (Spoiler: Evan has Mariners in six over the Dodgers, and I have the Blue Jays in seven over the Dodgers.)