Chicago Cubs

By Al View full size photo » Demolition barricades surround the former Yum Yum Donut Shop on Clark St. next to Wrigley Field. The building has been used for Cubs offices in recent years; it will soon be demolished, the first step toward clearing the site for construction of the Triangle Building.

By Diehardcubfan23 Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune writes that the Chicago Cubs appear prepared to part

By Dylan Sharek After the 2011 season, the Chicago Cubs will have to make a choice: keep third baseman Aramis Ramirez and purchase his club option for $16 million, or let him hit the market and buy the remainder of the contract for $2 million. That’s an $11.5 million decision the Chicago Cubs will have to make...

By Al Among them are Giants prospect catcher Buster Posey, who played in two games against the Cubs last September; Hank Conger, who may be the Angels' next catcher; and, of course, the Cubs' own Starlin Castro, who we have been talking about here all throughout the AFL season. Castro enters ton...

By neil@chicagocubsonline.com (Chicago Cubs Online) The first two days of the off-season have seen quite a bit of movement across the league ... except for on the North Side of Chicago. The Cubs completed their organizational meetings on Friday in Arizona and other than Reed Johnson and Rich Harden declaring free agency, not much out of the Cubs'...

By AJ Walsh I told you all about how Ryan Dempster let the Cubs in strikeouts. As it turns out, he almost didn't. Rich Harden pitched 59 fewer innings, started five fewer games -- and at the end of the season, only trailed Demp by one in the strikeout category.

By hosts@cubscast.com Episode: 568 - Type A Free Agents on the Cubs and what that Means, Joe Girardi v. Lou Piniella, and the Chances of Ronnie Woo Woo Getting a Sit-Down with the Cubs New Owners (November 6) - Cubscast 2009 Season Podcasts - Cubscast.com - Hosted By: Lou, Sheps & Sneetch

By Matt Trueblood Given the number of needs the Cubs still need to fill (another arm for the bullpen, a center fielder, a second baseman, and new hitters for the first and fifth spots in the order, plus a right-handed complement to Kosuke Fukudome in right field), the organization cannot afford hesitation.

By TAB BAMFORD Because of his age, Dye wouldn't have issues missing games on occassion, giving manager Lou Piniella the flexibility to see what Colvin's got in 2010. Colvin bats left handed, as does Fukudome, so there could be days that Piniella plays the two together, and other days when Fukudome woul...

By TAB BAMFORD A whisper leaked out of Arizona on Wednesday that Chicago Cubs' left-hander Ted Lilly underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery on Tuesday and isn't expected to return until some point in April. Great. [Collective sigh from Chicago's North Side.]

By Joel Barker I know, I know. It's a crazy headline. Chicago Cubs fans everywhere are rejoicing! The fact is that the latest scourge on their beloved franchise is about to be no more. Problem is Bradley, prior to the '09 season, signed a nice fat $30 million contract to play for Chicago.

By Tim Tonight'll be interesting with the 3 day rest thing for CC Sabathia. Personally, I think a rested guy is better than a 3-day rested guy. But if you read the NEW YORK TIMES, you'll see the rested guy is Chad Gaudin. So I completely understand Girardi going this way, even if Sabathia looked kinda n...

By Kurt capitalize off the fame of the ballpark by selling naming rights you will face staunch opposition from the vast majority of the fans.  They apparently don't realize that Wrigley Field was the first ballpark to be named after a brand.

By Josh77 Just some few basic information to start.  The Arizona Fall League is a post-season league for minor leaguers. mostly from AA and AAA teams.  The six teams play in the Spring Training complexes in the Cactus League.  The Cub prospects are on the Mesa Solar Sox, a team that  is also stocked with p...

By yarbage One thing I love about Lilly is that he is clearly a clubhouse leader for the Cubs. It's not beneath him to argue an Ump on a day off, or lobby for Reed Johnson by wearing a T-Shirt. Kurt argued the merits of team aces yesterday, and I think Lilly is the closest thing to an ace the Cubs have right now. H...

By TAB BAMFORD Lackey would then move into the number two position in the rotation behind Zambrano, and would bump Lilly, Dempster and Wells down. The Cubs would then have one of the best rotations in the National League. Starters : Zambrano, Lackey, Lilly, Dempster, Wells Bullpen: Marmol, Guzman, Mars...

By BY MARK POTASH | Commentary Now that the Cubs have signed the supposed best hitting coach in baseball in Rudy Jarmillo, maybe they can start thinking really big and go after a coach who can make an even bigger difference: Cardinals pitching guru Dave Duncan.

By Al With still more than 24 hours to go before the league championship series begin, mainly thanks to three sweeps and one four-game division series, here are a few Cub and baseball-related notes for you to pick over today. Starlin Castro went 3-for-5 in his first Arizona Fall League game yest...

By Arcturus(four2productions@gmail.com) Jim Edmonds. I personally thought Jim Edmonds was done and that this was a terrible signing. I had to eat my words, as Edmonds came back from the dead and gave the Cubs some solid baseball. And just for fun, here are two guys that Jim Hendry has coveted over the years that he wasn't able to sign or tr...

By DGU Aramis Ramirez  - For the past few years, even as other 3B have slipped in or out of this category, Aramis Ramirez has undoubtedly and consistently been a top 5 3B in the MLs.  Since coming under Lou's tutelage, Ramirez has added more patience to his game, making him a more complete hitter, a...

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By Bob Warja We know you spent your entire Major League career with the Chicago Cubs.  How did you get to that point? With the baseball season winding down, the next big event in Chicago is the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 11. What is the city of Chicago like during this increasingly popu...

By Kurt Following the Cubs 2003 grasp at glory, Jim Hendry made some swooping moves to make the team even better in 2004.  One of the best of these moves was a deal with the always-money-conscious Marlins for a then-27-year-old first baseman who had, in Rob's words, been the least-threatening mem...

By Matt Trueblood For the third consecutive year, the Chicago Cubs have gotten sparkling performances out of their starting rotation. Even with injuries to each of the top four slated starters, and inconsistent play from Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden, the team's starters have been thei...

By Adam Blank(noreply@blogger.com) Derrek Lee Like the great phoenix He arose from the ashes One year too late, though. Alfonso Soriano His defense, ghastly His offense, negligible Says knees are the cause Kosuke Fukudome Like Fukudome, My Japanese poetry... Needs much improvement

By hosts@cubscast.com Episode: 555 - PBS Telethon: The Cubs Tie the MLB Record for Most Hits to Start a Game and Sweep the Pirates, a New Cubscast Bingo Game, Sell or Buy Discusses Team Needs for Next Year, Which Fanbase Suffers the Most, and the Soriano Surgery Question (September 9) - Cubscast 2009 Season Podca...

By Kurt That vacancy, the leadoff man, is still with us to this day.  But Jim's attempt to bring the Mad Dog in to finish a five-man rotation already boasting Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Carlos Zambrano and Matt Clement, came to fruition right before Spring Training 2004.  I have to admit, I loved it!  Ev...

By Kurt Derrek Lee - D.P.Lee has had a shockingly good season, and in the past week he's hit 3 homeruns, driven in 5 RBI, and is batting .360. He's joined in this surprisingly productive week by Milton Bradley, who also is batting .360 over the past week but with 2 more doubles and 2 fewer homeruns. Also ligh...

By TAB BAMFORD With the amount of money the Cubs have tied up in Alfonso Soriano, Milton Bradley, and Kosuke Fukudome, there’s little reason to think the Cubs will be in the market for an outfielder this winter. Replacing Johnson could be as easy as fully promoting internal option Sam Fuld next year. He bat...

By Joe Huber He's still a major league pitcher, just not in the American League, and definitely not in the AL East. Smoltz might not end up on the Northside of Chicago, but if he does land with another MLB team, it will probably be in the National League.

By hosts@cubscast.com Episode: 544 - The Cubs Drop Two More Games and a Beer to the Phillies, the Thread of the Week, and the Debut of a New Cubscast Segment Called 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' (August 14) - Cubscast 2009 Season Podcasts - Cubscast.com - Hosted By: Lou, Sheps & Sneetch

By hosts@cubscast.com Episode: 543 - The Cubs Are Crushed by the Rockies and Then Lose a Heartbreaker to the Phillies, Two Instant Replay Reviews, Lou Says Something Dirty, Aram Still Out, Jeff Samardzija v. Pedro Martinez, and How the Cubs Can Stay in the Race (August 12) - Cubscast 2009 Season Podcasts - Cubsca...

By Mark Strotman It has the God-awful starting pitching of the Milwaukee Brewers and the ever-fading Houston Astros. If the Cubs win the National League Central and the Wild Card comes from the National League West, or if the Cubs win the Wild Card, they will visit Chavez Ravine to start the playoffs.

By Ryan Winn Just a month ago, they traded their most promising star, center fielder Nate McClouth, to the Atlanta Braves for three minor leaguers. That won't do, as Derrek Lee has been on a tear in the spot, and Aramis Ramirez and Milton Bradley are poised to jump in at any time.

By thisyearcub • Cardinals' bullpen: The Achilles' heel of this team. This group makes the Cubs' pen look pretty good, and that's saying something. Hopefully the Cubs' bats can force La Russa's hand to go to the pen. If you're bored/frustrated, turn to: Seriously? This is the first game of Cards/Cubs at Wri...

By Al Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez were taken out of last night's lineup because of the sketchy weather. But had they played last night, Lou said he was going to sit them today, so with today's weather looking windy but dry, expect to see both of them play. Soriano didn't get his wish to be the f...

By Al Soriano, LF Theriot, SS Lee, 1B Bradley, RF Ramirez, 3B Johnson, CF Soto, C Miles, 2B Gaudin, P Kosuke Fukudome will be returning to camp soon, and will have a lot to prove to fans and teammates who saw his free-fall in the second half of last year. One place he won't be going is the minors:

By thisyearcub After dropping a heartbreaker (not really) in the ninth last night, the Chicago crosstown rivals are back at it again in Vegas and its tiny ballpark. And for the second straight day, it's on WGN. Hooray for televised spring training baseball!  

By Tim At the "Meet the Management" gathering at the Cubs Convention (listen to it here), somebody brought up the Peavy puzzle and Jim Hendry explained that unfortunately Peavy isn't a free agent and it's a violation of MLB rules to talk about him.Luckily, it must be okay to talk about him behind c...

By Kurt The writing team of this novel are Alan Alop, whose day-time job is that of a Chicago lawyer  and Deputy Director of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, and Doc Noel, whose career is in health promotion but his passion is in baseball.  Both men are obvious fans of the Ch...

By Kurt Of all catchers in baseball, Soto was ... 2nd in doubles with 35 (behind only Brian McCann who had 42)Tied for 1st in homeruns with 23 (Brian McCann also hit 23)3rd behind Brian McCann and Bengie Molina with 86 RBI (Molina had 95, McCann 87)3rd in walks with 62 (Russell Martin had 90, Joe Mauer ha...

By Roman Modrowski Just heard Lou Piniella on the Waddle & Silvy show, and while he didn't come out and say the media played a role in the Cubs' playoff collapse, he left that window slightly open. And I'm sure it is difficult to be in Lou's situation. Just ask Ozzie, who always says the focus is much sharper on...

By brosage@mvn.com (Joe Aiello and Brandon Rosage) But his Cubs may have paved the way for October’s most dangerous team: The Los Angeles Dodgers. The NL West champions have youth, health and starting pitching going into Game One of the NLCS. But what did the Phillies show in their division series win over the Brewers? The guys breakdown the N...

By Jon Greenberg But this team has been so good all year, and the rest of the National League so average, it seemed predestined that in the 100th anniversary of the Cubs' last World Series title, they would win again and exorcise the old demons that have haunted this club and its fans for so long.

By brosage@mvn.com (Joe Aiello and Brandon Rosage) With the NL Central Division Championship in hand Thursday, the Chicago Cubs decided to give Mark DeRosa, one of their most valuable bats and versatile defenders, a few days of rest. DeRosa suffered a strained calf in Wednesday’s 9-6, 10-inning win over the New York Mets.

By Brandon Rosage With the NL Central Division Championship in hand Thursday, the Chicago Cubs decided to give Mark DeRosa, one of their most valuable bats and versatile defenders, a few days of rest. DeRosa suffered a strained calf in Wednesday’s 9-6, 10-inning win over the New York Mets.

Yeah, don't let them say that it's just a game. Well, I've seen other teams and it is never the same. When you go to Chicago, you're blessed and you're healed, The first time you walk into Wrigley Field. Heroes with pinstripes and heroes in blue, Give us the chance to feel like heroes do.

By tophersteven@gmail.com (Chris De Salvo) Kevin wrote, "If they do manage to win the World Series, you'll talk about it for a few days. You'll then realize the suffering you get high on is gone." Yeah. For some, this is true. For the college kids who get too drunk to text their parents what time they'll be back at the Metra Station. For the family from Macomb who drove three hours just for a glimpse of Wrigley Field. For Mark Cuban. For the countless trixies who relentlessly unbutton the tops of their pink cub jerseys just in case WGN's cameras find them stumbling through the stands. For that guy in the stands who insists on blaming Steve Bartman. As for the postseason. Let's get past St. Louis first.   [read the full post]

By Kevin Chroust

By Paul Johnson Thursday, September 4, 2008 Settle Down, Cubs Fans Cubs fans are genetically predispositioned to expect the worst. Not winning for a century will tend to do that to a fan base. But when looking at the current five-game losing streak and the arm problems of pitchers Carlos Zambrano and Rich H...

By Leitch For the third consecutive season, we are proud to introduce the Deadspin Baseball Season Previews. Yes, baseball is awfully close now; heck, they're playing real games in Japan tomorrow. Today: The Chicago Cubs. Your author is Mike Bruno.