A Chicago Cubs Fan Community Since February 9, 2005
Caleb Thielbar was one of Jed Hoyer’s better reclamation projects in 2025. After posting a 5.32 ERA in 59 relief appearances for the Twins in 2024 at age 37, Thielbar appeared done. But Hoyer and his team saw something they liked, so they signed Thielbar to a one-year, $2.75 million deal. And Thielbar had possibly […]
The 2012 Cubs were, by design, a bad team. New President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein had torn down the previous structure to rebuild, and what was left was not very good. After an unexpectedly good 15-10 July, the Cubs began August winning just six of their first 24 games, never winning more than one […]
Thanks to BCB reader JayWent, who suggested I write an article about Japanese third baseman Munetaka Murakami and the chances the Cubs might be interested in him. Murakami is listed at 6-2, 213, which makes him a pretty large man for a Japanese player. By comparison, Seiya Suzuki is 6-0 and 182. Murakami bats left-handed […]
Luke Weaver is the latest name floating around in the blogosphere. Michael King is said to have reduced his potential landing spots to three AL East cities. The sources are credible but nothing is definite yet. *means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page […]
It’s the start of a new week here at BCB After Dark: the hippest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in out of the cold. We’ve got a fire going in here. We can take your coat. We still have a few tables available. Bring your own […]
Eight years have passed since the last Cubs position player to pitch, Doug Dascenzo, who pitched in four games for the team covering five innings. There was great hope for the 1999 Cubs entering the season. And, in fact, the team started out well. After defeating the Diamondbacks June 8, they were 32-23 and just […]
As you know, I have posted a series of articles here on players who could be free agent or trade targets for the Cubs this offseason. As a refresher, here are links to all those articles (except for two players who have already signed elsewhere). Dec. 5: Luis Severino (trade) Dec. 4: Edward Cabrera (trade) […]
Good morning.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths. “Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire. Happy birthday to Johneshwy Fargas* and all of you who celebrate your natal anniversary on […]
The Cubs decided to go old-school in 2005 and 2006. From 1993-2004 they had put names on the back of home uniforms. Names had been on the back of Cubs road uniforms since 1982. But in 2005 management decided to go back to the pre-1993 look and take the names off. What they did not […]
Sources tell us that Burl Carraway is no longer in the organization. He was once a promising prospect with a big fastball from the sinister side, but his future didn’t turn out so well. So far, the offseason cache contains two MLB relievers and one player signed to a minor-league deal. *means autoplay on, (directions to […]
Earlier this week I posted here about the eight Cubs players with MLB experience who will likely take the field for their home countries in the World Baseball Classic: Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matthew Boyd (U.S.), Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga (Japan), Owen Caissie (Canada), Daniel Palencia (Venezuela), Miguel Amaya (Panama) and Javier Assad (Mexico). A […]
“Wake Up Dead Man,” the third film in the “Knives Out” series from director Rian Johnson, came out in theaters briefly in October and is now available for streaming. As a (now retired) member of the Directors Guild of America, I have access to screeners of various films for DGA Award consideration. This film was […]
This is another photo from BCB reader Clark Addison. As you know, Mark Prior suffered two serious injuries that eventually ended his MLB career. The first one was a collision on the basepaths with Marcus Giles of the Braves. That happened in the bottom of the second inning July 11, 2003, after Prior had walked. […]
Former Cub and Ray Christopher Morel is now a Marlin, sources reveal. It sucks about Devin Williams, who would surely have been a fine Cub. Also revealed: several MLB players have signed with teams that aren’t the Dodgers. Dennis Franz still wants to know “What is a Met?” Insiders predict that the Dodgers plan to […]
Thirteen years have passed since Larry Biittner’s turn on the mound for the Cubs. Position player pitching was still pretty rare in Major League Baseball. And then came the spring of 1990. You have to remember the context here: The Cubs had come off a division title year in 1989 in which they won 93 […]
The Cubs have not yet made any sort of major free agent signing or trade acquisition this offseason. In fact, the Winter Meetings were pretty quiet on the transaction front, with the exceptions of the signings of Pete Alonso, Robert Suarez and Edwin Diaz, all by teams other than the Cubs. This, you already know. […]
Happy Friday, everyone! Winter Meetings are over, and we have a big wrap-up of everything that happened, who signed where, and who the winners and losers were this year as we get closer to the end of 2025. There are some player moves to keep up with, including two players who won’t be heading back […]
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths. “Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire. HRod had a couple of good years, and other stories. Today in baseball history: Cubs […]
Thinking about another off-season series to do, I came upon this idea. Position player pitching has become fairly common in modern baseball, so much so that MLB has codified when a position player is allowed to pitch. Now, a position player can only pitch if one or more of these criteria is met: • Game […]
The Cubs have a new left-handed reliever: This seems a signing well in line with Jed Hoyer’s practice of recent years — sign a mid-range reliever who’s had some success in the past and hope to make something out of him, as the Cubs did in 2025 with Caleb Thielbar and Drew Pomeranz. Milner, like […]
Since the baseball offseason has run cold for the moment, let’s pivot to the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Per Meghan Montemurro in the Tribune, the Cubs might send quite a few players to the WBC: As many as eight Cubs players might be on WBC rosters: Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matthew Boyd (U.S.), Seiya Suzuki and Shota […]
Since the baseball offseason has run cold for the moment, let’s pivot to the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Per Meghan Montemurro in the Tribune, the Cubs might send quite a few players to the WBC: As many as eight Cubs players might be on WBC rosters: Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matthew Boyd (U.S.), Seiya Suzuki and Shota […]
So the vaunted Winter Meetings turned out to have been a massive time-suck, completely useless from my point of view. It wouldn’t be a surprise for me at this point if the Cubs signed nobody at all. It’s going to take a hell of a lot to mollify me or even to start to allay […]
It’s Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the swinging-est afterparty for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re so glad you decided to stop by. Come in out of the cold. We’ve got a fire going in here. There is no cover charge. We still have a couple of tables […]