Cubbies Gazette

  Beautiful day for baseball today, latest news shows the Red Sox have hit 2 grand slams in 2 innings, one by Martinez, one by Devers. Pretty exciting playoffs- personally I would like to see a change of scenery from Astros or Dodgers. Red Sox/ Braves would be a nice change of pace. Anyway, back to the Cubs, who do not get to enjoy the excitement of the playoffs, but in 2022...you never know! Yes, I know the offseason has not officially started (not until the WS ends), but it isn't too soon to start discussing the Cubs' offseason- including possible signings and trades. Carlos Correa "It's something that definitely crossed my mind during that pre-draft workout, and maybe in the offseason it will cross my mind again"- Correa on dreaming of playing with the Cubs. Ok, perhaps it would be daydreaming to see Correa signing a multi-year, $300M deal with the Cubs. Price will be high of course, Correa said he didn't think the Astros would meet his asking price, so...t...

  After a year of Hoyer handling some of the general manager responsibilities, as well as some of the staff, he has named Carter Hawkins the Cubs new GM. “I am thrilled to bring Carter into our organization,” Hoyer said in today’s press release. “He has earned a fantastic reputation as a leader through hard work, open-mindedness, humility and intelligence. I enjoyed getting to know him throughout the interview process, and it quickly became clear that we share the same passion for team building. I look forward to partnering with him to build the next great Cubs team.” Hawkins has served most recently as Cleveland's assistant general manager, having worked his way up from an internship to the front office. Though only 37, he has a total of 14 years experience working in MLB organization. Hawkins' main strong suits lie in farm system and player development, so that will certainly help upgrade the Cubs' farm system as well as help players fresh or soon to be fresh from the m...

  In the first half of the Cubs'2021 season, the bullpen was one of the one bright things about a team that had been very inconsistent. Led by set-up men like Tepera and Chafin, and locked down saves by All-Star close Craig Kimbrel, the bullpen was doing a phenomenal job, sometimes going 23+ innings combined without giving up a run. Sounds crazy, eh? But then those lead guys were all traded, and between some internal options, prospects, and remaining bullpen, the Cubs struggled some for the rest of the season. So...what can we get from this? 1. The Cubs Need More Consistent Relievers Dillon Maples, Rex Brothers, Manuel Rodriguez and others come to mind, who showed spurts of great success, then periods where they give up a bunch of runs and walks. There were some that were pretty consistent (more about them later), but overall...consistency is something to work on. Here is a list of pitchers who REALLY need to work on consistency: Rex Brothers, Jason Adam, Adam Morgan, Michael Rucke...

  Contreras is only one of 3 people left from the Cubs 2016 WS team, the others being Heyward and Hendricks, and he's been one of the more consistent and reliable players the Cubs have had, also providing good clubhouse leadership.  Although it remains to be seen if Contreras will be on the Cubs in 2022, lets just assume he will be and take a look at his 2021 season. Overall he hit .237 BA, .778 OPS, with 98 H, 21 HR, and 52 BB in 413 AB over 128 Games. He had a bit of an off year, considering his career average was .259 BA and .807 OPS, but his best month was September/October, hitting .294 BA and .919 OPS.  Some things deserve some notice: He hit lefties better than righties. Vs lefties: .284 BA, .891 OPS . Vs righties: .219 BA, .734 OPS. That is normal for a right-handed batter, but being the everyday catcher the Cubs always rely on in their lineup, perhaps hitting lefties could be helped. Maybe the new hitting coach will help? He has a MUCH better average if he is ah...

  Yes, I believe the Cubs should primarily focus on pitching this offseason, but we also shouldn't ignore that the offense needs some work, although that was mainly due to players under-performing this season. The position players the Cubs will target will most likely not be really expensive players, but will be lower-cost, yet result-producing players. Here are 5 players I think the Cubs should target to help fill some offensive needs. 1. Kyle Schwarber (LF or DH) . An long-time face in Wrigley Field, eh? This depends on whether the NL adapts the DH in 2022. If they do, I think Schwarber would make a ton of sense. A little more on the expensive side, as Schwarber got paid 7M in 2021, but I think it would be worth it.  Schwarber's off year in 2020 certainly did not affect his 2021  season, as we see his numbers went back up to over his career average, hitting .266 BA, 928 OPS, with 106 hits and 32 HR. And maybe he'd make a good leadoff hitter for the Cubs like he's bee...

C'mon, who can't like Schwindel, the guy who replaced Rizzo in the latter half of the season and was hitting like nobody's business (Frank the Tank, Schwindy City)? Frank Schwindel won the NL Rookie of the Month award 2 months, yes 2 months in a row , plus hitting the best and most consistently of all the Cubs players in the latter half of 2021. So...Wow. Quite a pick-up. Schwindel's finishing 2021 stats were: .342 BA, 1.002 OPS, 76 H, and 13 HR all in 56 Games and 222 AB . Talk about being on fire! First, we see a really good plate discipline. He has an extremely low 15.1% strikeout rate (but only a 6.7% BB rate), and a 40.8 % Hard hit rate. That shows some good aggression while not being overly aggressive and a strikeout king like Wisdom.  The OPS is .278 over the MLB average in 2021, so that is a good plus as well, hitting 13 homeruns, 19 doubles, 16 walks and 40 RBIs over 222 ABs. The guy can sure hit well, and doubles, RBIs, and homers always make a well-rounded pl...