Cubs Rumors & News

NBC Chicago "Chicago Cubs pitching coach Jim Hickey is stepping down from his position, citing personal reasons. Hickey, who was hired by the Cubs prior to the 2018 season after the firing of Chris Bosio, informed the team of his decision on Monday, according to Cubs President Theo Epstein. " November 20

Chicago Tribune "Despite a quick exit from the 2018 postseason, the Cubs have maintained their national popularity. ESPN announced Monday it will carry three of the Cubs’ first five regular-season games in 2019: March 31 against the Rangers at 3 p.m. and April 1 and 3 against the Braves,..." November 20

Hardball Talk "The Baseball Hall of Fame has released its ballot for 2019. The newcomers to the ballot, two of whom I presume will be first-ballot inductees, include Mariano Rivera and Roy Halladay: Roy Halladay Todd Helton Andy Pettitte Mariano..." November 19

Larry Brown Sports "Bryce Harper free agency negotiations are underway according to a report, and the Chicago Cubs are among the teams involved. Dan Bernstein, a host on The Score in Chicago, said on his show Friday that Harper negotiations are picking up steam and the Cubs are in. November 17

CBS Sports "Pick any moment before 2016 in the past century of Cubs history, then ask yourself this: Is there any other point in those 100 years in which fans, media and the team itself would view a 95-win season as a colossal disappointment? That's where we're at with the 2018 North..." November 17

Sporting News "Major League Baseball and DAZN, the fast-growing global live and on-demand sports streaming service, have finalized plans to create a weeknight show for baseball fans to follow game-by-game action in real time beginning in the 2019 season.  The yet-to-be-named program,..." November 16

NBC Sports Chicago "There's certainly a sense of urgency for the Cubs this winter, but they won't make moves just for the sake of shaking things up. The Cubs always anticipated a window of contention for at least seven years and we're now on the backside of that estimate, with only three..." November 16

Hardball Talk "There’s something interesting deep in Ken Rosenthal’s latest notes column. It’s about arbitration, with Rosenthal reporting that the players union believes that all 30 teams will take a “file-and-trial” approach to arbitration this winter. If..." November 16

The Score "The Chicago Cubs' early exit from the 2018 MLB postseason didn't stop their fanbase from dropping a lot of F-bombs as the playoffs progressed. A study by TickPick monitored Reddit during the playoffs to see how frequently the word "f---" appeared, and who it was..." November 15

NBC Sports Chicago "Do the Cubs envision Ian Happ as a vital piece of their future or the organization's best trade asset? What about Kyle Schwarber? Albert Almora Jr.? Victor Caratini?  We might not get surefire answers to these questions this winter, but we'll at least get an..." November 15

MLB Trade Rumors "Major League Baseball announced today that it has reached a new seven-year, multiplatform agreement with FOX Sports spanning the 2022-28 seasons. Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal reports (via Twitter) that the contract’s rough value is a staggering $5.1 billion — a..." November 15

Hardball Talk "The owners meetings are going on down in Atlanta this week. Unlike a lot of gatherings of baseball dignitaries, we tend not to get much news out of them, however. We know the owners do things like light cigars with $100 bills and, I dunno, play games of chess on human-sized chess boards with..." November 15

Chicago Tribune "Cubs season ticket-holders will see an average increase of 2.6 percent, the team announced Thursday. Last season the average price at Wrigley Field rose about 1 percent after 2 straight years of double-digit hikes: 19.5 percent in 2016 and 10 percent in 2015. Next..." November 15

Chicago Tribune "Nobody doubts the sincerity Cubs President Theo Epstein expressed recently over the sensitivity surrounding the future of Addison Russell, the shortstop suspended 40 games in September for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic-violence..." November 14

Bleed Cubbie Blue "There’s been all sorts of kerfuffle all over the internet over the last few days over a report by Buster Olney that the Cubs would consider trading Kris Bryant. I had my say about that report and what it means the other day. The Cubs are not going..." November 13

Chicago Tribune "Theo Epstein said Wednesday night at the general managers meetings in Carlsbad, Calif., that the Cubs have no “untouchable” players on their roster, arguing it “sends the wrong message.” But he then added some players are “so important to..." November 09

ESPN "Kris Bryant won the Rookie of the Year award in 2015, an MVP award the next season, and he will forever be remembered in Chicago for making the last play to clinch Game 7 of the Cubs' 2016 championship, grinning as he released the throw to first. At that time, it was easy to envision..." November 09

Hardball Talk "It was over four years ago the last time we heard from Carlos Zambrano. At that time it had been two years since he had last pitched, he had ditched a comeback attempt and said he was happily retired and at peace without baseball in his life. Things change. Flash forward to 2018..." November 09

MLB Trade Rumors "Major League Baseball owners are expected to meet next week to vote on a five-year extension for commissioner Rob Manfred, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. He’d need the approval of ownership representatives from 16 of the 30 teams, though Nightengale reports that Manfred..." November 09

Chicago Sun-Times "After just one year as the Cubs’ pitching coach, Jim Hickey may be unlikely to return as the front office continues to put off revealing the makeup of the 2019 coaching staff. Indications are that Hickey, a Chicago native, could be gone despite his pitching staff..." November 08

Chicago Tribune "Now, Cubs pitching coach Jim Hickey might be the one getting run out of Wrigley Field. That was the rumor bouncing around inexplicably Wednesday like a Tyler Chatwood cutter. It’s not that Hickey was being fired, or maybe he was. It’s more like he..." November 08

Chicago Sun-Times "As suspended Cubs shortstop Addison Russell continues league-mandated therapy under its domestic violence policy, his agent suggested Wednesday that he and Russell expect the shortstop to resume his career with the Cubs when the suspension ends a month into the..." November 08

Larry Brown Sports "Paranoia about sign stealing was more rampant than ever during the MLB playoffs this year, and the league is trying to find ways to cut down on that heading into 2019. According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, Major League Baseball is in the process of trying to implement rules and..." November 07

Bleed Cubbie Blue "When Chili Davis was replaced by Anthony Iapoce as Cubs hitting coach for 2019, it was stated by the Cubs that the rest of the coaching staff for next season would be announced at a later date. This implied that things were still up in the air with the 2018 coaches. Recently..." November 07

Bleacher Report "The free-agent market this winter includes the National League's Most Valuable Player—from 2015. And the American League's MVP—also from 2015. And the AL Cy Young winner. And two others who finished in the top five in MVP voting in their respective..." November 07

Sportsnaut "One of the interesting possibilities coming out of the GM meetings is not a potential deal, but a big change to the MLB trade deadline. MLB is considering moving the non-waiver deadline back from its traditional July 31 date. In the process, the waiver deadline of August 31 would be..." November 06

Chicago Sun-Times "Cubs president Theo Epstein said Monday the club remains open to the possibility of keeping troubled shortstop Addison Russell into 2019, despite early indications from team insiders in September that Russell’s suspension for domestic violence could mean the end of his career with the..." November 06

Hardball Talk "Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told members of the media, including Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, that the club won’t discuss a contract extension with manager Joe Maddon and his agent Alan Nero until later in the 2019 season. Maddon is entering the last year of..." November 05

Hardball Talk "The Hall of Fame just announced the nominees for this year’s Veterans Committee ballot. Well, they don’t call it the “Veterans Committee” anymore, but it basically is. It’s now done with an era-system which rotates every year, and this year’s era is the..." November 05

Yahoo! Sports "Early in her seminal Babe Ruth biography, “The Big Fella,” Jane Leavy, the gifted storyteller of bygone ballplayers, perfectly encapsulates his place at the intersection of America’s game, Americana and America today. The forebear of modern politicians and religious..." November 05

Hardball Talk "The General Manager Meetings are taking place in San Diego this week. We don’t often get a lot of general news from those. Heck, at the moment two teams — the Giants and the Orioles — don’t even have general managers. The best way to think of the GM Meetings is to think..." November 05

Hardball Talk "The Cubs are weighing whether or not to bring embattled 24-year-old shortstop Addison Russell back in 2019, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports. Russell is entering his second of four years of arbitration eligibility. Last year, a friend of Russell’s now..." November 05

ESPN "Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print The Boston Red Sox, just a week after winning the World Series, had the most players in the American League named as Rawlings Gold Glove winners, with right..." November 05

12 Up "After losing plenty of key parts of the coaching staff in recent days, the ?Milwaukee Brewers purged a division rival to make their latest coaching hire. In a surprise move, Milwaukee is bringing in Andy Haines, who was the assistant hitting coach of the Chicago Cubs..." November 03

Larry Brown Sports "Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are the two biggest free agents on the market this offseason, and the Chicago Cubs are a big-market, successful team looking to improve. It would stand to reason that they might get involved in the bidding for either player, but that might not be the..." November 03

The Score "The Chicago Cubs, a franchise that finished 2018 with the fourth-highest payroll in baseball, might be getting ready to tighten the purse-strings. Despite having been previously linked to several high-profile free agents who are now on the market, including superstar outfielder Bryce..." November 03

MLB Trade Rumors "The Cubs announced today that they have outrighted outfielder Terrance Gore and infielder Mike Freeman from the 40-man roster. Meanwhile, the club has added infielder Jack Reinheimer via waiver claim from the Mets. " November 02

The Sports Daily "Bryce Harper is set to test the free-agent market, after having previously spent all seven of his years in the league with the Nationals. A number of teams have been rumored to have interest in signing Harper — Phillies, Giants, Cubs, Yankees and Nationals among them..." November 02

Sporting News "The line between “so crazy it just might work” and “that’s just plain stupid” is thin and fraught with potential embarrassment. Let’s walk it anyway, shall we?  I have an idea. It’s speculation, to be clear. The only “inside”..." November 02

MLB Trade Rumors "The Cubs will exercise their $20MM club option on left-hander Cole Hamels today and also trade fellow left-hander Drew Smyly to the Rangers today, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Late last night, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that a..." November 02

Chicago Tribune "The Cubs are interested in keeping left-hander Cole Hamels, but the cost appears debatable with Friday’s 4 p.m. deadline approaching. The Cubs can retain Hamels simply by picking up his $20 million option for 2019. But that could create further financial stress on..." November 02

Bleacher Nation "The deadline to make a decision on Cole Hamels’ $20 million club option for next year looms tomorrow, and it sounds like the Cubs are still on the fence about picking it up. More than that, they may be trying to coordinate another move with the decision: November 02

Chicago Sun-Times "As expected, the Cubs on Thursday exercised their $6.25 million option on right-handed reliever Pedro Strop. Last season, Strop went 6-1 with a 2.26 ERA in 59? innings. In other unsurprising news, Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward didn’t opt-out of his $184 million..." November 01

Bleacher Nation "Just as it was a no-brainer to pick up the affordable 2019 option on left-handed starter Jose Quintana, the Cubs have made another easy decision today: exercising their 2019 option on right-handed reliever Pedro Strop: Strop, if you recall, signed an extension with the Cubs back..." November 01

NBC Sports Chicago "It could be a winter of change for the Cubs, and not just on the roster. This team may also change how it deploys the players on the roster — namely with a more set, consistent lineup in 2019. It's something Theo Epstein addressed in his 2018..." November 01

Bleed Cubbie Blue "Roster moves, options and opt-outs are in the news this week, and the Chicago Cubs are no exception to those moves: The exercising of Jose Quintana’s option was expected, and a no-brainer, really; it’s for $10.5 million. October 31

CBS Sports "The Cubs exercised their $10.5 million team option on Quintana for 2019 on Wednesday. Quintana provided stability for the Cubs during the 2018 season, finishing with a 4.03 ERA and 1.32 WHIP with 158 strikeouts across 174.1 innings (32 starts). " October 31

Chicago Tribune "Cubs President Theo Epstein understands the rewards and risks of free agency, from the bonanza signing of Jon Lester four years ago to the struggles of Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood in 2018. Epstein did not shy away from the need for a productive hitter in his end-of-the-season media..." October 31

NBC Sports Chicago "Count Brandon Kintzler as part of the Cubs bullpen heading into the 2019 campaign. The veteran reliever entered the offseason with a $10 million team option (which the Cubs declined) and a $5 million player option, which he picked up Wednesday afternoon, according to ESPN's Jesse..." October 31

CBS Sports "Four-time All-Star Cole Hamels is open to an extension with the Chicago Cubs, who hold a $20-million team option on the left-hander for 2019 but could sign him to a multi-year deal. Here's what Hamels' agent John Boggs told 670 The Score on Monday: "Cole enjoyed..." October 30