CubsPS+ - A North Side Numbers Game

I hope all of you who celebrate had a wonderful Thanksgiving and as we now turn the calendar to December, roster-building season begins! The Winter Meetings happen next week amid a lot of tension on Cubs social media. Will the Cubs spend big? Will they get a top shortstop? This week I get into all of that, touch on the Rule 5 draft coming up next week and more.

As we head into our annual day of Thanks, I sat down this week with Mark Weisman, the strength & conditioning coach for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Mark spoke at length about how he went from a college football running back at Iowa to a baseball strength coach in Myrtle Beach and he went in depth about the Cubs organizational commitment to player development. He talked me through what and how the Cubs measure performance and how that data is used to build strength while also balancing work load to reduce injury risk. In the back half of the episode, Mark got into how they train for the uniqueness of baseball and how rule changes are opportunities for a competitive advantage - provided you can train better for those new rules. He also talked about some of the players who made the biggest strides in 2022 with the Pelicans. I learned a lot in this episode and I hope you will as well.

This week I had the pleasure of talking Cubs prospects with Greg Huss from Northside Bound and the Cubs on Deck podcast. Greg and I talked about this week’s Rule 5 roster decisions, highlighted a few key guys in his newly released Top 40 Prospects list and talked about what fans can do to get a read on prospects when watching minor league games or looking at stats. In the end, I put Greg on the spot for some “best of” categories in the Cubs system. I had a lot of fun hanging out with Greg and I hope you enjoy the interview. Greg Huss on Twitter @OutOfTheVines Northside Bound Cubs On Deck is available wherever you find your podcasts. Greg & Bryan Smith (@CubsProspects on Twitter) put out a new episode every other week during the offseason and plan to go weekly during the season.

The offseason is finally here and the action will begin for real in a few hours! Who is on your winter wish list for the Cubs? Today, join me as I review key offseason dates and walk through some WAR math to figure out how the Cubs can go from 74 wins to playoff contention. We’ll talk about free agents, growth from the current roster and some potential trade possibilities.

I had a great conversation with Craig Calcaterra, a long-time baseball writer who recently published the book, “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game”. With Cub fans left out of the post-season again, watching Kyle Schwarber hit bombs in Philly and waiting to see whether the next Cubs team could be the next great Cubs team, it’s a good time to step back and take a look at what it means to be fan. We’ve had our frustrations as Cub fans watching favorite players leave as management cut spending and ownership has not always seemed to do everything possible to compete. Craig and I discuss how he came to write the book, how fandom is impacted by the business side of baseball and the accessibility of baseball to young fans today. We also talk about what fans can do when ownership isn’t competing or we don’t like the direction of the team or some of the players’ off-field activities. You can find Craig on Twitter @CraigCalcaterra and check out his “Cup of Coffee” newsletter and more of his writing at CraigCalcaterra.com.

Every year, I dread the end of the baseball season. As a kid it meant a long, dreary Iowa winter…now that I live in a warmer state, it just means no baseball. I’ll thoroughly enjoy this World Series, but I’m ready for the season to be over…but not because the Cubs narrowly avoided a 90-loss season, but because I think this is going to be a really exciting offseason. When the World Series is over, things can begin in earnest – qualifying offers will be issued, players will declare for free agency and teams can begin signing players and making trades. The Cubs are rolling into the offseason with some glaring holes to fill, but also with a lot of available cash and a deep, Top 10 farm system. Last week, we talked about Jed’s favorite phrase – “intelligent spending”. This week we’ll put that to work and look at which free agents make sense for the Cubs. Will the Cubs rise to get Aaron Judge? Will they dig deep to get one of the elite shortstops? Will the Cubs look to Japan again? The MVP Machine by Ben Lindberg & Travis Sawchik

Welcome to Episode 13! Baseball is down to it’s Final Four, which means the games are getting bigger and bigger – and if you’re a Cub fan, it means what could be an action-packed off-season is getting closer by the day. Last week, I talked about the impact arbitration can have on a team budget and compared the Cubs history of handling arbitration with the Braves – this week, I dive into free agency. What does “intelligent spending” really mean? Why does arbitration impact free agent budgets? And how did those things converge to lead the Cubs from the 2016 promised land to the depths of 2021 & 2022? Does any of that history indicate what the Cubs will do this offseason? Let’s find some answers.

In this bonus episode, I give my thoughts on the new playoff format, talk about the performance of some top prospects and touch on the upcoming postseason. As always, you can find me on Twitter & Instagram @CubsPSPlus, a spin on the baseball metric OPS+.

Welcome to Episode 12! If you’re listening, you’re missing Cubs baseball as much as I am – especially Cubs playoff baseball. In this episode, I’m going to take a look at some of the comments Jed Hoyer made this week about the upcoming offseason and dive into the potential for contract extensions – most notably, looking at the kinds of lessons the Cubs could take away from the Braves recent activity, which includes extending yet another young player, rookie pitcher Spencer Strider. At the end I make the case for extending 5 Cubs players this offseason.

There’s no Cubs baseball today, but that doesn’t mean that today – October 6th – isn’t a huge day in Cubs history. Come join me on a journey through the ghosts (and goats) of Cubs baseball past. We’ll visit Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig, talk about Dizzy & Steve Trout and learn a little more about a goat and a shooting while we wind our way through 6 stops in 85 years of Cubs post-season history. Like any trip through a Cubs postseason, it’s a bumpy ride, so buckle up.

In today’s episode, I take a look back at how this Cubs team fell so far early, how they’ve managed to finish strong and then lay out some paths for improvement as the Cubs head into the offseason. Will this be another offseason ending like a Chicago Bears drive in another punt? Or could we see a lineup with star power next year?

In today’s episode I do a quick sweep of the last week of Cubs baseball - like the Cubs did in New York - and highlight some fantastic pitching performances. From there, I jump into the rule changes recently announced by MLB. I talk a walk through the history of baseball rule changes and how change never seems to come easy, but usually seems to stick to become the next generation’s baseline of the good ol’ days. Here are the written works I reference in this episode: ”But Didn’t We Have Fun” by Peter Morris ”Why Baseball Games are so Damned Long” by Grant Brisbee (SB Nation) ”Here Are 111 Seconds of Pedro Baez Not Pitching” by Jeff Sullivan (FanGraphs)

In this episode, I welcome in my first guest, former pro player and current coach Chris Vasami. In this episode we discuss hitting development, the growth of young players, get his thoughts on the shift and talk about catching up to velocity. Chris was an All-American in high school, played college baseball at Notre Dame and Elon before being drafted by the Colorado Rockies and spending four years in their system. He’s spent more than 15 years coaching young players. You can learn more about his work atVasamitraining.com.

In this episode, I start with a quick summary of the road trip to Milwaukee and Toronto, highlighting Jeremiah Estrada’s major league debut among a few other highlights. Then, around the 4 minute mark, I spend the rest of the episode highlighting why Ohtani is available, why the Cubs should trade for him and what a trade might cost.

This installment comes after a lost week to some superbug we’re affectionately calling “camp crud” took the host down for a week. I describe my own connections to the Field of Dreams game, albeit a bit late and talk about how Jed Hoyer and the Cubs have been steadily raising the talent level floor on this team and how they may raise the ceiling this offseason. Thanks for listening!

The episode starts with a tribute to the late, great Vin Scully, who passed last week. The discussion moves to the trade deadline - who the Cubs traded, who they didn’t and who they got back and then closes with what to look for the rest of the season. There will be a roster crunch the rest of the way. NOTE: Post production, the Cubs announced that Jason Heyward would remain an inactive player the rest of this season and then be released in the offseason. This episode discusses releasing Heyward related to the roster crunch.

The Cubs head to San Francisco riding a 6-game and 2-sweep winning streak, but will likely be saying goodbye to some beloved players at the deadline for the 2nd year in a row. We deep-dive into Nico’s offensive rise, comparing him to a Cub great from the past.

Looking back from the All Star break, this episode breaks down the Cubs situational hitting and continued offensive struggles in extra innings.

Having lost 7 straight games, the Cubs approach the All Star break with clear weaknesses and clear pieces that could be a part of a winning future.

This podcast takes a look back at last year’s trade activity and the potential for trades this year. What impact could potential deals have on the Cubs rebuilding process?