Cubbies Gazette

  David Bote was one of the Cubs' disappointments of 2021. Going into the season, he was projected to hit pretty well, even after coming off a rough 2020 season. However, that did not happen, and injuries also caused some negative effects on his playing. Here are some bullets on his 2021 season: Overall, he hit .199/.276/.330 with a 64 wRC in 291 AB. He had 58 Hits, 35 RBIs and 8 HR in his 291 ABs. So, overall, not good production in the hitting department. What mainly caused that? He had a relatively average 22.3% K rate, compared with a 8.3% BB rate, so nothing too alarming there. He had pretty good zone control, with a SwingStrikePer. of only 11%. So, we can conclude, even if he did have an off year, the zone control, strikeouts, and walks are pretty good. Another thing was good as well, the contact. He had a 76.8% Contact rate, which can be a very good thing. That shows he can make contact with pitches, which is obviously the main part of being a successful hitter. The problem,

 Now the sadness begins. No baseball activity for likely a couple months, at the least. All the activity in signings, trades, roster moves, etc., have been stopped and likely will be for a while. Now, I'm no expert in the business part of MLB, including arbitration, agreements, unions, etc., but I can offer a short explanation of what is going on so you can understand. The CBA is the negotiated agreement between players and clubs (i.e., the team owners) that governs the working relationship between the two parties. Since that agreement ended Dec.1st, the owners can "lockout" the players until a new agreement is reached. That has been done, with the owners voting unanimously to do that until a new agreement is reached. Some downsides to this are : players cannot workout or rehab in baseball facilities, teams cannot communicate or connect with players, teams will be scrambling to sign remaining free agents and do trades close to the start of the season. These are just a fe

Last night, before my very eyes, I saw the Cubs actually sign the pitcher that since the beginning of the offseason I wanted them to get. I was pumped, not only because they signed him, but because Stroman himself was really excited. Now, I just can't wait to see him pitching in a Cubs jersey. The official deal: 3-years, $71M. A pretty good steal, and pitcher you'll have until the young ones really move up. Exciting! The #Cubs today agreed to terms on a three-year major league contract with RHP Marcus Stroman. pic.twitter.com/6bkko55shP — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) December 2, 2021 That's right. It's actually real. So, what does that mean for the Cubs, now that they have Stroman? It provides a much-needed ace that is athletic and detail-oriented. Sure, he's not the high-strikeout, upper-90s pitcher like what would be *ideal*, but who can deny the fact that Stroman is a good pitcher? A groundball specialist. These kinds of pitchers are good; the type that makes you groun

  Yesterday was the non-tendering deadline, and while there were several teams that did not non-tender any players, the Cubs non-tendered two players. Michael Hermosillo. I get this and don't get it all at the same time. Sure, he wasn't an awesome player in his time with the Cubs, but he has great power and good speed. I guess the Cubs would rather have Frazier, which is fine with me, but he'll be a good pick-up for other teams. Jason Adam. This was a little surprising, seeing he battled his way through an ankle dislocation to pitching with the Cubs and having great pitching outings in his final appearances. But again, another solid reliever for another team. Source: Jason Adam is being non-tendered by the Chicago Cubs. Adam, 30, has had a sub-3.3 ERA two of the last three years and struck out 40 over his last 24.1 IP. — Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) December 1, 2021 Willson Contreras and Ian Happ were both tendered contracts, even though both will be going through the a

 After signing free agent Yan Gomes, the Cubs will be signing OF Clint Frazier to a 1-year deal, sources say. The Cubs are closing in on a 1 yr deal with Clint Frazier, source tells ESPN. Was released by the Yankees recently. — Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) November 30, 2021 Here's some bullets on Frazier: While in 2021 he hit .186/.317/.317 with a 83 wRC, he hit .267/.394/.511 with a 149 wRC in 2020. So, he has a career of good hitting, with being a consistently above-average hitter. His strikeout rates hover between 27% and 30%, so not great, but not terrible. However, he had a 14.7% BB rate in 2021, and has been pretty consistently around there. So, the walks are a definite plus. He had a 41.5% HardH rate in 2021, with a max EV of 111.5 MPH in 2021, so he's a guy that really hits the ball hard. He plays mainly in left field and right field, though he has experience in center as well. He's a solid defender who can hit well, so overall a pretty good signing. One wonders

  Who didn't like to see El Magos' "magic" with the Cubs? Yes, he struck out a lot, and made tons of errors in 2021, but I think the success and entertainment provided by Baez outweighed it. It was already an almost sure thing that Baez would not be coming back to the Cubs, but yesterday's news put the nail in the coffin. Javier Baez has 6-year, $140M deal with Tigers @jonmorosi and @Feinsand 1st — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 30, 2021 Hey, I'm glad he didn't sign with the Cardinals or something like that, and with the Tigers almost ready for competing, I think it's a pretty good fit. So, I wish the best of luck to Javy, and look forward to seeing him in a Tigers jersey. Now, you may be wondering how the CBA negotiations are coming. To that, I answer: Happy Lockout everybody! In other words, an agreement will not be made before Dec.1st at midnight. Jon Heyman confirmed that, saying that a lockout is inevitable. So...that means all baseball negot

  Yes, the Cubs have actually made a move and signed free agent catcher Yan Gomes to a $13M 2-year deal.  Yan Gomes to Cubs. $13M, 2 years. Gives them two starting catchers and maybe 1B/DH options. @CraigMish 1st — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 30, 2021 A couple bullets on Gomes: He batted .252/.301/.421 with a 93 wRC in 349 AB. He has a low 20.8%K rate, which is great, and had a 37.9% HardH rate. He provides good catching defense, as well as the ability to play first. That is a good bonus, because the Cubs are lacking in depth at 1st Base. In his career, he is an average hitter, with his best year recently being 2020, in which he hit .284/.319/.468 with a 105 wRC. The implications with this signing is interesting. Yes, the Cubs need a backup catcher, but with a catcher with this amount of quality, you wonder if this means the Cubs are going to trade Contreras. According a late report, the Cubs are not involved in extension talks with Contreras, which leads me to believe they made

 The non-tender deadline is Tuesday at 7 pm CST, and if you're not clear what the non-tender deadline is, it is a deadline for teams to tender players on their 40-man roster contracts. Players they do not want to give a contract to they non-tender, and they become free agents.  Now it will be interesting to see what moves the Cubs make is regards to who they non-tender, and what non-tendered players they might sign. First, we'll discuss players that they might non-tender. Jason Adam, Michael Rucker, Trevor Megill, and Tommy Nance. All four were used by the Cubs in the bullpen this past year, and while each had their strengths and you can see some potential there, they clearly could not adjust to the major leagues, and allowed way too many runs. Perhaps they might keep one or two of these, but I expect them to non-tender most of these, if not all. Alfonso Rivas and Michael Hermosillo. I did an article on them not too long ago, and while I see definite potential in both, I'm

What were we really to expect? Of course, the Rangers, Mets, Marlins, etc. are all signing top free agents, and the Cubs (who have money to spend) don't sign a single MLB FA (yet) and instead sign a minor league free agent. First, let's recap yesterday's signings: Marcus Seimen signed a 7-year deal with the Rangers. Not a huge surprise there, seeing how the Rangers wanted a top-tier free agent and had money to spend. Kevin Gausman signed a 5-year deal with the Blue Jays. Yes, I wanted the Cubs to get him, but I didn't really think that would happen. Makes sense for the Blue Jays, especially if they lose Ray. Jon Gray signed a 4-year deal with the Rangers. I thought he'd be a good fit for the Cubs as well, but it doesn't seem like they're actively pursuing starters right now. Strange.  Michael Lorenzen signed a 1-year deal with the Angels. The Cubs were rumored to be connected to him, but seeing the Angels' success with two-way players (Ohtani?), it's

  After the Mets signed three top free agents, the market certainly has not stopped, and is going at an incredible rate with teams signing and players rumored to be signing with a team in the next couple days. We'll start with a couple new signings: Blue Jays To Sign Yimi Garcia https://t.co/arIDRSzF3X pic.twitter.com/ZEkh9Xu0to — MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) November 28, 2021 Free-agent RHP Corey Kluber in agreement with Rays on one-year deal, pending physical, sources tell @TheAthletic . Kluber, 35, missed more than three months with right shoulder strain before rejoining Yankees in late August. Finished with 3.83 ERA in 80 IP, including no-hitter. — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 28, 2021 The pitchers are going fast, with Kluber, Wacha, Syndergaard, Matz, and others signing with teams.  While the only one I was disappointed that the Cubs did not get was Matz, it still shows the starting pitching market is in full steam. Another thing to mention is that relieve