Cubbies Gazette

 Since not much is happening in the Cubs world besides Cubs pitchers having a deadlifting competition and Cubs fans singing carols with the purpose of bringing Correa to the Cubs: Cubs fans changed the words of ‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo’ to ”Correa come play in Chicago.” 😅🎄 (via @RyanMcGuffey ) pic.twitter.com/piE7d2lCr8 — FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) December 18, 2021 And Correa responded and wished Cubs fans a Happy Holidays:   Happy Holidays to you all 🎄💙 https://t.co/lWVlFqKtEf — Carlos Correa (@TeamCJCorrea) December 18, 2021 So, besides that, not much has been happening, so it's time to go back and remember two crazy Cubs walk-offs from 2021. 1. Ian Happ Walks-Off On a Pop-Up This was pretty crazy and also pretty stupid, but they were playing the Pirates, and when you're playing a team like that, things like this happen. Of course, Jomboy had a pretty good breakdown of this play, but it's a pretty crazy moment and I'm glad it happened...and in the Cubs' ...

  The Cubs have been sending some invitations to non-roster players for Spring Training and have sent seven invitations. Personally, I was pretty ticked off that I didn't get invited... Anyway, here they are along with a little evaluation. RHP Jonathan Holder. The Cubs signed Holder prior to the 2021 season, but injuries kept him from playing all season long, so the Cubs resigned him again this offseason. With the Yankees he posted a career 4.38 ERA in a grand total of 176.2 IP. He has a career 21.7% K rate against a 7% BB rate and a 36.6% GB rate. One wonders why the Cubs are so intent on having him, a guy who is pretty much an average player. Perhaps we'll see a little of his potential in ST. RHP Mark Leiter Jr. I discussed him in detail in my previous article:  Cubs Sign RHP Mark Leiter Jr.  Excited to see him pitch for the Cubs. LHP Stephan Gonsalves. I made this analysis on him when the Cubs originally signed him: " He spent 7 years in the Twins' system, and then ...

At this point with the lockout in full force, we are forced to get excited about what would normally be "insignificant" signings. I'm talking about signing minor league free agents, which can sometimes be significant, but it's not usually noticed as much because of MLB action. It is somewhat interesting to me that signing MiLB free agents is allowed during the lockout. I mean, I get that the minor leagues are not locked out, only MLB players are "locked out" from MLB teams, but it still seems a little odd. But it is the way it is, so we'll just have to roll with it and get excited when someone signs a minor league player, because at least it's something. Anyway, the Cubs made one of these MiLB signings, and signed RHP Mark Leiter Jr. to a minor league deal.  Leiter has spent most of his career with the Phillies, having been in their system since 2013 and making his MLB debut in 2017, but he then bounced around a little bit before he signed a minor le...

 Schwindel is one of the few things for the Cubs in 2021 that made me excited and happy. "Frank the Tank," "Schwindy City" and other nicknames accurately describe how good this guy was. With the Cubs, ended with a final stat line of .342/.389/.613 with a 163 wRC in 239 PA. He had a low 15.1% K rate and a 6.7% BB rate.  The guy's ability to hit homers (14) and not strikeout a ton, plus his charisma and personality, quickly made him a favorite Cubs player to me and other fans. So, enjoy this highlight video of Schwindel's 2021 season, and just take a moment to admit that this is the legendary Frank the Tank. There you have it. And while I'm not sure if he can hit that well all season long, the personality will still be there. And, before you go, check out these awesome Cubs shirts, the first one being a pretty cool Schwindel shirt. (They do make really good Christmas gifts for Cubs fans)

With not much action happening on the MLB level, and not too much more Cubs roster to talk about and breaking news to share, I thought I'd turn your attention to the lower levels of the Cubs' farm system, starting with the Triple A affiliate of the Cubs, the Iowa Cubs. If you are unfamiliar with how a teams' farm system works, or what prospects are, let me offer a simple explanation. Players are drafted by a team from high school or college, and when that team drafts them, they start training in that team's farm system, starting with the bottom, usually a complex league or rookie league. Then they jump to the official minor leagues, starting with Low A, and they work their way up to the Triple-A level from which it is one step to reach MLB.  Of course, teams trade prospects, and that team now fits that player into their system, which might be the same level, higher level, or lower level. So, all teams have a variety of players either drafted or gotten by trade or off wa...

  Yesterday, Fangraphs came out with their Cubs ZiPS predictions (a method they use to predict a player's performance), and it came with some surprises and some doubts on my part. I'll list some more notable players' predictions including Hendricks, Wisdom, Schwindel and others. Willson Contreras is predicted to hit .240/.339/.442 with 20 HR and a 2.6 WAR. He is set to have the highest WAR on the team besides Marcus Stroman, and so a pretty solid season for the Cubs' main backstop. I see this as pretty realistic for him. Patrick Wisdom is predicted to hit .225/.300/.488 with 29 HR and a 2.0 WAR. He is predicted to have 387 AB, which I think is a little higher than he'll end up getting. Overall, I'm pretty surprised to see them so optimistic about him, given his strikeouts and cold streaks, plus them giving him a total of 157 Ks, but I hope they're right. Ian Happ is predicted to hit .239/.341/.456 with 25 HR and a 1.8 WAR, so they're not expecting him to...

  Before I begin, I just want to apologize to all you Pirates fans (if there are any reading this article on a Cubs blog?) and let you know that perhaps one day your team won't look so stupid... Anyway, I really enjoyed what happened, and since it involved El Mago, or Javier Baez, which was my favorite player on the Cubs (now it's Schwindel), I really would like to share this past moment with you again.       I got a big laugh about that when it happened, and it also appears that Rizzo did too (holding his chest he was laughing so hard). Here's what happened: Baez hits a groundball to third base. The Pirates' third baseman throws the ball to the pitcher, who was covering first at the moment. The throw wasn't straight on, and the pitcher caught the ball a little in front of the base, with Baez still in the baseline to first. Instead of simply stepping on the bag and getting the out (there was two outs already, so stepping on the base would have ended the inning),...

  A lot can be said on what I think the Cubs should do, or who I think they should target, but in the end, it all comes down to what Hoyer and the Cubs' front office does and who they target. I mean, theoretically, I would love for the Cubs to get Correa, Castellanos and maybe Kyle Seager. But I can't make the Cubs get them, and there's a lot more to "getting" a player than we see. What was the Cubs' front office's plans going into the offseason? A lot has been said about Hoyer's statement from right before the offseason, and I'll put it here: " There’s a reason that the best organizations are generally built from within, and they’ll use free agency to sort of finish off the club,” Hoyer said. “Building a club through free agency is really challenging. So,  when we talk about intelligent spending, that’s ultimately how I see it: You want to bring talent to the organization; there’s only so many pipelines you can do it; you have to be really c...

  Yes, the Cubs season didn't go well. Yes, we are in the middle of a lockout. But, that means it's time to have a little fun and review my favorite Cubs moments from 2021. Number One for me is the Cubs' combined no-hitter for multiple reasons. This is the one redeeming Zach Davies moment. (I just love the fact that a bad pitcher like Davies would no-hit one of baseball's best teams) The fact that the trio of Tepera, Chafin, and Kimbrel would help close the door. (All of them are relief pitchers the Cubs helped succeed) The Cubs literally no-hit the Dodgers. I mean, just take that in for a minute. So take a little bit of time to watch this short video of the Cubs' combined no-hitter. Number Two for me is Wisdom breaking Bryant's rookie homerun record with a grand total of 28 homeruns. Sure, Wisdom has his downsides, but c'mon. The guy has some crazy power. Number Three is Anthony Rizzo striking out fellow first baseman Freddie Freeman. It's a funny ...