Taking a gaggle of teenage girls to the mall today as part of our daughter’s birthday activities, and honestly I just think it’s nice that kids still want to do this kind of thing.
Ope, that was a very Old Guy sentence, wasn’t it?
Nico Hoerner offers an update from his October 11 flexor tendon surgery, and at the highest level, he says if he’d been told back then that this is where he’d be by Valentine’s Day, he’d be happy with that:Nico Hoerner provides a health update after getting flexor tendon surgery in the offseason: pic.twitter.com/enuDVDAiVa
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 14, 2025 He is not throwing in the field yet (though we have seen him playing catch), but that’s all just part of the throwing program he’s on. There’s a lot of work to do along the way to build back up the arm, but also improve the way he throws (both for health and for effectiveness). Might as well use the opportunity created by the surgery and the rehab. I’d forgotten about Hoerner’s broken hand, too, which means he was – for a long stretch – playing through BOTH a broken hand and an injured flexor tendon. From the moment he broke the hand in early June, he wound up hitting .285/.330/.384/104 wRC+, and also still rated out quite well defensively last year. Imagine what he could’ve done if he were 100%. Lefty Rob Zastryzny did not accept his outright to Iowa, and instead elected free agency. That means he’ll be looking for the best minor league deal he can get, and I hope it comes from the Cubs, given that they do still need lefty relief depth. Why would he reject the outright only to re-sign with the Cubs? Well, because he could now negotiate a little higher pay on a minor league deal, and/or an opt-out at the end of Spring Training if he doesn’t make the team. Uni-Watch has a deep dive with some sourced reporting on the Cubs’ uniforms for this year, including the possibility that the Cubs could get a new City Connect soon IN ADDITION to the newly-released Blues uniform (which, you’ll recall, sure seems like a City Connect but is officially just an alternate). It seems unlikely that the Cubs will be getting a City Connect this year – note that the Blues are expected to be worn at home on Fridays, which is when City Connects had been worn – but they will still be permitted, in terms of the uniform limit, to have one (teams get four options plus a City Connect (and the Cubs’ four are the pinstripes, the gray, the blue, and the Blues)). It remains kinda odd, by the way, how City-Connect-like the new Blues are, but officially are not. Given that the Cubs are ditching their City Connects at the same time they are adding the Blues, Uni-Watch smartly wonders whether something is being tweaked by Nike/MLB in how the whole set-up is handled. We may not know until more teams do what the Cubs are doing, and/or reveal new City Connects. (And if you wanted to shop the new Blues looks, you can go to the Cubs shop here. President’s Day sale going on there, more generally.) Speaking of different-looking jerseys:Kyle Hendricks says he’s one of the luckiest people in the world for being with the Cubs so long. “I got the most out of my career with the Cubs, I think, that I could, and I wouldn’t have asked for anything else.”Full article here: t.co/wx0Jg28rZ0 pic.twitter.com/q2REOkd0Ah
— Cubs Zone (@CubsZone) February 15, 2025 The Royals signed lefty Cole Ragans to a three-year deal that covers his final pre-arb season and two arbitration seasons for a total of $13.25 million. Ragans, a two-time Tommy John recipient, gets that money guaranteed, and the Royals in exchange get the chance to save some money on his first two arbitration years (they’ll still have him under control via arbitration for one more season after that). Just like that, “$120 million” becomes $96 million:Source: Alex Bregman's deal includes $20 million in deferrals each year, beginning 10 years forward.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 15, 2025 The Cubs’ final offer at four years and $115 million, with no deferrals, really wasn’t that far off from what Bregman took when you look at the real numbers. His AAV with the Red Sox, over three years, was around $32 million. The Cubs were at just under $29 million, and they were at four years not just three. Theirs was the larger real guarantee, without question. But the Red Sox also had the better home ballpark for Bregman’s skills, and critically, had the first year opt out. The Cubs’ initial opt out didn’t come until after year two. Whatever. Gotta move on. Miguel Amaya, swing-adjusted and pilates guy:Miguel Amaya in his final 57 games of 2024:.282 AVG | .331 OBP | 6 HR | .779 OPSStream Cubs 360 – t.co/kWUzzUltow pic.twitter.com/MNgSqZPoiQ
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 13, 2025Miguel Amaya=pilates guy ?@EliseMenaker caught up with Miguel Amaya on his offseason workouts and more on the Cubs Weekly Podcast – stream now! t.co/e0SlaTQsps pic.twitter.com/8kdjEfWe8C
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 14, 2025 Well, then:Marcus Stroman was asked about the possibility of moving to the bullpen:"I'm a starter. I won't pitch in the bullpen. I'm a starter" pic.twitter.com/M0N1kJGza2
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) February 14, 2025 This has me thinking about how the Cubs were briefly going to have Marcus Stroman pitch in relief a couple years ago down the stretch, and they surprised us with him doing back-to-back relief appearances, and then suddenly he wasn’t pitching in relief – oh, and it all came after the weird injury and meeting in the press box. Remember all that? I’d forgotten how weird that was. I’m guessing it was not a positive couple months for him, and clearly pitching in relief is just not something he’s interested in doing. That glove is sick:Some Cubs camp Pete Crow-Armstrong photos for your timeline.
— Jordan Bastian (@bastianmlb.bsky.social) 2025-02-15T01:06:58.603Z Love that Ryno was able to be at camp again this year, doing his thing:Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg was in Cubs camp this morning.
— Jordan Bastian (@bastianmlb.bsky.social) 2025-02-15T00:54:58.269Z Yesterday was the open of college baseball, and there were already some dramatic moments. A walk-off winner:DRAVEN NUSHIDA OPENING NIGHT WALK OFF!!!#GoBows pic.twitter.com/sIbAj8jt3H
— Hawaii Baseball (@HawaiiBaseball) February 15, 2025 And a moment to bring you to tears:Man, what a moment. Auburn’s Cade Belyeu lost his mom, Staci, this morning to cancer. He just went deep on opening day. pic.twitter.com/Mz8h9USBFh
— SEC Baseball (@SECbaseball) February 15, 2025 Read More Details
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