UPDATE: Cubs reliever Kerry Wood entered the eighth inning today in a game the Cubs were losing 3-2 vs. the White Sox. In what was expected to be his final career outing, Wood struck out Dayan Viciedo on three pitches and was immediately taken out where he was greeted by his young son and a standing ovation by the Wrigley Crowd. In a surprise move, Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood is going to announce his retirement from Major League Baseball on Friday, according to Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago.
Breaking news Kerry Wood will retire today !— Bruce Levine (@ESPNBruceLevine) May 18, ...
One of the best trade chips that the Chicago Cubs have right now is Matt Garza, who is under contract through the 2013 season. That is significant, especially considering the team has a rebuilding mindset under the new regime led by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.Garza was talked about all throughout the offseason as being on the block, but nothing ever came of it, either because the Cubs didn't get the deal they wanted or they never had any intention of moving him in the first place.However, Epstein now insists that the needs of the franchise—and not Garza's performance—will dictate ...
A new regime has brought new hope to the Chicago Cubs. Of course, optimism is sanity for Cubs' fans after 103 years of watching other teams celebrating a World Series title. But Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer are taking drastic steps to get this franchise away from the "lovable losers" we have seen. The first order of business is shedding albatross contracts and older players, and infusing the farm system with the kind of high-upside talent that has been missing for years.The system is in slightly better shape today than it was five years ago, but there is still a lot of ...
The Chicago Cubs got the first baseman they so desperately needed and they didn't have to give up a lot—either in money or value—to do so. According to Adam Berry of MLB.com, the team agreed to a deal with the San Diego Padres to acquire Anthony Rizzo and Zack Cates for Andrew Cashner and Kyung-Min Na. Despite some talk that they might be interested in signing Prince Fielder, the Cubs were always going to have to find a more cost efficient way to plug their hole at first base. They just paid Carlos Zambrano $15.5 million to go play somewhere else, ...
Prince Fielder's free agency is still the greatest mystery of the Major League Baseball offseason. However, it would appear that you can scratch the Chicago Cubs off the list of serious contenders.According to Ken Davidoff of New York Newsday, the team is committed to the future and a long-term rebuild, and those plans do not include paying top dollar for a premium free agent right now, even though the report says that Fielder would like to play there.Fielder wanted the Cubs; they’re a reasonable distance from his Florida home and he has outstanding numbers at Wrigley Field. The Cubs, however, ...
Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have been in charge of the Chicago Cubs for nearly two months and have yet to make one significant move. If they don't do something soon, the natives will get restless. Matt Garza has been on the trade block for weeks, and ESPN's Jim Bowden tweets that there may be some package deal involving him going to San Diego for Anthony Rizzo. It is unclear at this point just how real the rumors are, but if that is something the Cubs would be able to pull off, it would be a major coup for a franchise ...
Ron Santo waited for this day to come from the day that he retired in 1974. He was very vocal about how much he wanted this to happen, and he had a countless number of supporters that wanted this for him, too. Now, 367 days after his untimely death, he has been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Veterans Committee finally did the right thing by putting Santo, who played virtually his entire career with the Chicago Cubs, into the Hall of Fame. He was listed on 15 of the 16 ballots. There are a lot of emotions with this ...
