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Cubs Sign Three Of The Top-30 International Free Agents

By
Aldo Soto
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Who knows what these kids are going to turn into because that’s what they are, kids, but it’s always interesting to keep track of the signings to see how they progress not only in the Chicago Cubs organization, but all over MLB too.

The latest signing period has netted the Cubs with three of the top-30 ranked international free agents and two more ranked outside of the top-30.

Via Jesse Sanchez, MLB.com.

According to industry sources, the Cubs agreed to deals with right-handed pitcher Richard Gallardo, who ranks No. 5 on MLB.com’s Top 30 International Prospects list, for $1 million, outfielder Jose Lopez (No. 17), for $1.5 million, and left-handed pitcher Joel Machado (No. 28) for $850,000.

The club also agreed to $850,000 deal with shortstop Rafael Morel of the Dominican Republic and outfielder Yohendrick Pinango of Venezuela for $400,000.

Here’s a quick scouting report on each of the top-30 players.

Richard Gallardo.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Curve: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 60

The best pitching prospect out of Venezuela and the top hurler overall in this year’s class, Gallardo is smart and fearless on the mound. Evaluators believe he can be a top-of-the-rotation type of pitcher if he stays healthy and continues to develop his tools at a normal pace. He projects to have average or above-average tools across the board and he’s already considered advanced for his age.

Jose Lopez.

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Arm: 55 | Field: 50

At the plate, the left-handed hitter has a small hitch but otherwise boasts a free and easy swing. The ball flies off of Lopez’s bat and he has shown the potential for more power in the future. He’s not as physical as some of the other top prospects, but he makes hard contact to all fields. The belief is that Lopez will be able to generate more power once he signs with a big league team and works on his mechanics in a club’s academy on a daily basis. Lopez has a chance to stay in center field and hit in the middle of the lineup one day.

Lopez is already a plus runner — he’s been clocked at 6.4 seconds in the 60-yard run — and evaluators believe the tool will help carry him through the Minor League system.

Joel Machado.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Curve: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 55

Machado is an athletic, projectable left-handed pitcher with good arm action and lots of room to grow.

He made himself into a more appealing prospect after growing a couple of inches in height and adding close to 20 pounds while also increasing the velocity of his fastball from the 85-87 mph range to 89-90 in the last year. The teenager’s repertoire also features a changeup at 80-81 mph and a curveball that usually hovers in the 70-mph range. Both pitches are projected to be average or above average with the change ahead of the breaking ball right now.

The Cubs were one of eight teams to sign at least two of the top-30 international free agents.

Patrick Mooney of The Athletic got the inside scoop from Louie Eljaua, the director of international scouting and a special assistant to Cubs executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.

Via The Athletic.

“We liked quite a few players in this class,” Eljaua said. “In our opinion, we got commitments from the top right-handed pitcher — arguably the best pitcher on the market — and probably the best left-handed pitcher in Machado.

Make sure to give Mooney’s piece a read, as Eljaua goes more in-depth with the current class of IFA and gives background on the scouting process of teenagers in Latin America.

It’ll be at least 3-4 years before we see any of these names are hyped up, but the obvious hope is that at least one becomes the next Gleyber Torres, Eloy Jiménez or Willson Contreras.

Possible McGregor vs Nurmagomedov Showdown Looms For UFC 229 In Vegas

By
Kevin Fiddler
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Say what you want about his temper, his bus-assaulting skills, or his bottle-throwing prowess: Conor McGregor is a cash cow at the box office for UFC. Doesn’t matter how foolish or reckless he acts, the man is a draw. With some fans beginning to question UFC’s pay-per-view numbers and, with the last few big fight cards marred by last-minute dropouts or weigh-in drama, UFC needs a doozie: McGregor vs Nurmagomedov at UFC 229.

What started out as a pipe dream for fanboys has started heating up as multiple credible online sources are reporting the wheels are in motion for undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and bad boy Conor McGregor to meet in Las Vegas on October 6. The idea is no longer just a “what-if,” but — perhaps — a “when.”

McGregor’s trainer, John Kavanagh, told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto this morning that McGregor and his agent, Audie Attar, were “working on” the potential Nurmagomedov matchup and expressed hope it would become a reality.

Nurmagomedov added flames to the speculation when he stated UFC was already “working on a fight” between himself and McGregor. Then came initial reports about potential fight between Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson at UFC 229 if an agreement between McGregor couldn’t be reached.

By Thursday morning, much-maligned, but often correct, Twitter and MMA personality “Dizz” also dropped a tip he received with a little more background: McGregor has been booked for October 6 at T-Mobile Arena. That date? UFC 229.

To fan more flames, Nurmagomedov and McGregor have even been subtweeting each other all week. Nurmagomedov started it with this Instagram photo of him beating up a defenseless and faceless doll, saying “Smash him #soon.” The “him” Nurmagomedov referred to wasn’t much of a mystery.

Smash him #soon

A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on

Less than 24 hours later, McGregor followed suit by posting a picture of himself with coach Sergey Pikulskiy and Moldovan wrestler Kosti Gnusariov. One need not read the tea leaves very long to see something very well may be brewing. Some real testosterone-driven peacock stuff going down here.

Whether or not this means it’ll be McGregor-Nurmagomedov, we’ll have to wait and see, but it looks pretty likely at this point. McGregor can’t fight in New York until his court case is settled thus Vegas is his best bet for a megafight. The boxing shtick was fine for a second, but it’s time he get back in there before his prime passes him by like a hand truck  through a bus windshield.

“I really have seen the spark back lately,” Kavanagh said. “I think that was directed at other areas of his life for a while, building up his business world — which is completely justified. We all know the hard-luck stories of fighters retiring broke. They get pats on the back and they’re forgotten.”

No chance McGregor will let himself fall into that “forgotten” realm, but he needs this fight to help restore some zest to his glory and some funds to his seemingly-drained bank account. He’s one of those polarizing figures who garners great attention, good and bad, to the UFC and MMA. This is his best chance at a warrior’s return as nobody has ever beaten Nurmagomedov.

For Nurmagomedov, this is simply just another chance to wire shut the jaw of a mouthy and potentially-overrated opponent who has an overdue appointment with his foot and the canvas. Just another another tattoo’d notch in his unbeaten legacy.

Cubs Interested In Tampa Bay Rays Starting Pitcher

By
Aldo Soto
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The Chicago Cubs might be looking more intently at the starting pitching market this trade deadline, as Yu Darvish isn’t expected back until maybe the end of July if his latest rehab process doesn’t suffer any setbacks.

With that being said, they’re already out taking a closer look at potential trade targets and Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports the Cubs were one of four teams that sent out scouts to watch Tampa Bay Rays starter Nathan Eovaldi Monday night.

Via MLB.com.

Count Nathan Eovaldi on several teams’ wish list. The right-hander started for the Rays Monday night and pitched in front of scouts or representatives from the Cubs, Phillies, Red Sox and Braves. All are contending teams hoping to fill a void they’ve identified.

The Rays have played well of late, which suggests they should try to keep the band together. Unfortunately, they are way behind in the American League Wild Card race, and even farther behind in the American League East.

Thus, Tampa Bay’s prudent move in the weeks leading to Major League Baseball’s July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline would be to get what they can from other teams in exchange for valuable pieces, such as Eovaldi, who becomes a free agent after the season.

Eovaldi, 28, has a 3.92 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in seven starts this season with the Rays. He’s been around since 2011, when he made his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers and he could be the classic low-risk, high reward acquisition.

The right-hander didn’t pitch until May 30, after having surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow. Prior to signing with the Rays, Eovaldi pitched for the New York Yankees, but unfortunately he had Tommy John surgery in August 2016. That was his second Tommy John surgery, the first coming when he was in high school.

So, it’s his first season back since his second Tommy John surgery and he’s been pretty damn good. However, Eovaldi’s biggest problem is giving up home runs. Despite the great 0.92 WHIP, he’s allowed nine homers in 41.1 innings.

Trading for him wouldn’t cost the Cubs much, as Eovaldi becomes a free agent after this season, but he obviously isn’t a sure-thing either. The injury history and high home run total makes him a gamble, however, the risk is low and his potential could really help out the pitching staff.

His best season based off traditional numbers came in 2013, when Eovaldi had a 3.39 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 18 starts with the Miami Marlins. He also put up a 2.9 and 3.2 fWAR in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Overall, Eovaldi has a 4.20 ERA, 3.90 FIP and 4.06 xFIP in his career.

Let the trade rumors begin!

Cubs Pitching Coach Jim Hickey Reveals Yu Darvish’s Timetable To Return

By
Aldo Soto
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Again, the news isn’t the worst case scenario for the Chicago Cubs and Yu Darvish, but these updates sure haven’t been good either.

A day after Joe Maddon gave a bleak outlook on Darvish’s return, Cubs pitching coach Jim Hickey was on 670 The Score and the current timetable for Darvish to come back isn’t until the end of July.

Maddon hinted at the possibility of Darvish having to start from scratch on his rehab from elbow pain and that means he could end up coming back until August if he suffers any setback.

Darvish last pitched for the Cubs on May 20 against the Cincinnati Reds before going on the DL May 26. He was making steady progress in June and following a rehab start with the South Bend Cubs, the team was planning on having him start against the Minnesota Twins this past weekend.

As we know by now, that never happened because Darvish had a setback after experiencing pain during a bullpen session in Los Angeles before the start of the Twins series.

So, if the process starts all over and there are no more setbacks, Darvish should be back by the end of July.

The biggest issue there is obviously the timing of the trade deadline. At this point no one really knows how Darvish will pitch when he returns. So, although the Cubs have Mike Montgomery filling in right now in the rotation, you’d think the Cubs would be proactive in the trade market for another backup option.

Of course, they’d really only be doing that if they knew Darvish just isn’t going to be ready for most of the second half and not knowing how he will progress in the next four weeks kinda puts the front office in a tough spot to seek or not to seek another pitcher.

A few weeks back, there was also a report that left-handed starter Drew Smyly could return to the Cubs as soon as August, so there’s that option as well if Darvish doesn’t come back as soon as anticipated.

For now, the hope is Darvish does return and can at least give the rotation a boost down the stretch and into the postseason. One more setback and we might be looking at a surgery and that’s when the hope to see Darvish again in 2018 will disappear.

Inconsistent Reporting Making NHL Free Agency, Potential Karlsson Trade, A Headache

By
Kevin Fiddler
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Rumor has it coveted Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson is coming to Las Vegas. Rumor has it coveted Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson is headed to Dallas. Wait, rumor has it coveted Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson is now headed to the Tampa Bay Lightning. If this lead annoyed you, welcome to NHL free agency on social media, where unconfirmed sources might be an NHL executive or David Berkowitz’s neighbor’s dog. The whole process has been a headache.

Karlsson may indeed end up with Tampa Bay. Or Vegas. Or Dallas. Or the Golden State Warriors. It’ll happen when it happens, but the process has been awful. Filtering through the constant barrage of click bait and rumor mongering, especially on Twitter, has been harder than rummaging through giant piles of dinosaur shit to figure out why a triceratops is sickly and lethargic in Jurassic Park. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’d rather go arm-deep in a T-Rex’s prostate than filter through the NHL trade rumor refuse currently floating around the social media universe.

In the information age we live in, clicks are golden, which is why so many sites and social media accounts post inflammatory, unconfirmed rumors. The Karlsson sweepstakes have been more frustrating than LeBron’s Decision 3.0. Tons of Twitter accounts keep throwing out franchise-specific narratives to draw in the most followers without any semblance of credibility.

In less than 36 hours, Karlsson has gone from “almost certainly” a Golden Knight to “definitely” headed to Dallas to, now, destined for Tampa Bay. The whole rumor mill started innocently enough, but has devolved into lawn dart guessing and Ouija board reporting, all for the sake of followers and retweets.

Here is a short timeline

The early talk shifted towards Vegas being almost a sure thing.

Then, Tampa Bay was out, according to their “people.”

But, wait! Here comes Dallas.

Sometimes, even the rumor mill gets so tired of spreading rumors so it takes a little break to enjoy the rest of their Fourth of July holiday…by spreading a rumor trade talks had been put on hold for the next 24 hours (so the rumor mill mongers can get a little drunk and come up with their next great clickbait rumor over the holiday).

After a day off, even the rumor mill itself gets frustrated with the coverage and misinformation. The rumor mill apparently has finally settled on Tampa Bay, who had been ruled out prior, rejoining the rumor mill as the imminent destination for Karlsson.

This was not meant as a slight on @NHLRumorMill. It’s literally in their name. Problem is, real reporters are quoting and retweeting these rumors as near-fact. The ridiculousness of the rumors even has some of the best Golden Knights reporters frustrated with the amount of gullible souls who take the reporting of some faceless poster on Twitter hiding behind a logo serious and lose their shit.

Jesse Granger, who has done a stellar job covering the Golden Knights all season for the Las Vegas Sun, has even had enough.

But, then there are these reports coming out this morning. Seems legit, but — then again — so did those Oakley sunglasses I bought from the dude dressed as Iron Man at the pagoda on Fremont Street.

The Ottawa Sun has it a done deal Karlsson is going to be a Lightning. It may happen, but goodness! How does the average sports fan filter through all this horse dung? More so, is it an indictment of sports writing, as a whole, in this day and age? Choose a hot button sports topic, cite an unnamed source, get the clicks, repeat. This is the cycle of sports news today. It is unreliable, disgusting, untrustworthy and completely journalistically unethical. You don’t report until you can prove.

Unnamed sources are the slippery slope of unethical journalism, unless the source is in actual physical danger.

Citing your Uncle Gerrard at the Fourth of July party as a source is NOT reporting. It’s pathetic, unless your uncle’s last name is Gallant. To combat the frustration of dealing with free agency, it’s probably best die hard fans stay away from social media for fear of an emotional breakdown. Even Tommy Wiseau is being torn apart by these rampant trade rumors.

As a fan, let the process take its course and control what you can control. Take note of every reporter, Twitter feed, web site and newspaper that has incorrectly let you down. Find new sources. Don’t let click mongers off the hook. Allow their credibility to speak for itself.

I know I would stop shopping at a store if the products they sold me turned out to be one giant con with a fake bill of goods. In a world of #FakeNews, it’s vital we not only learn to filter through the maddening barrage of misinformation, it’s equally important we punish those willing to put their reputation on the line with misinformation all for the sake of a few extra clicks.

The truth does matter…

Growing Belief Is This Will Be Bears Breakout Player of 2018

By
Erik Lambert
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chicago bears breakout player

There are so many choices for who could be the Chicago Bears breakout player of 2018. That’s how high the optimism is around the team these days. GM Ryan Pace has built a young core of intriguing talent and surrounded that with a long list of high potential role players. Anyone of them has enough skills to warrant being the choice. So who is the name experts are keying on?

Well, the obvious one is of course quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Everything the Bears have done this offseason was geared towards making him a success. They fired John Fox and replaced him with the offensive-minded Matt Nagy. They spent big in free agency and the draft at wide receiver to get Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Anthony Miller among others.

That doesn’t even include promising offensive lineman James Daniels. If things go as planned it could be a huge year for the young quarterback. However, there is a small underground movement that has another name in mind, and it appears to be growing.

Trey Burton gaining in the race to be labeled Chicago Bears breakout player

Perhaps the most controversial name the Bears signed in free agency was tight end Trey Burton. The hero of Super Bowl LII, he earned a reputation as one of the best gadget players in the league and also a credible red zone threat. Yet he’s never before been the feature guy in an offense. So people aren’t sure what to expect.

Some though have a growing confidence that in the tight end-friendly system Nagy employs, he has a chance to not only produce more but excel. Brad Stevens of Yahoo Sports explained his reasoning.

CBS Sports went on to elaborate on why Burton may be overlooked. It’s easy to get lost in his modest numbers during his time in Philadelphia, but that may not have been his fault. Burton was trapped on a loaded tight ends depth chart that featured quality veteran Brent Celek and emerging Pro Bowler Zach Ertz.

Without those two to hold him down, he showed what he could do.

“Burton has proven to be a good Fantasy tight end whenever he got the chance for a featured role in place of an injured Zach Ertz. That happened twice in 2017 when Ertz was out in Week 9 against Denver and Week 14 against the Rams. Against the Broncos, Burton had two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown on four targets. Against the Rams, Burton had five catches for 71 yards and two touchdowns on six targets. And in Week 2 of the 2016 season with Ertz out, Burton had five catches for 49 yards and a touchdown on seven targets against the Bears.”

In truth, there’s no reason to think Burton can’t thrive in Chicago. He’s got size, he’s athletic, can run, has good hands and shows a clear understanding of how to play different roles. He shows all the qualities of a player who merely needs somebody to give him a chance. Somebody who is willing to look past the production and see a player that is ready to do so much more.

The Bears seem prepared to offer that opportunity, which explains why he was so eager to sign here. He’s out to prove something. They merely gave him a platform to do it.

Rehab And Injury Updates For Cubs Players Not Looking Too Hot

By
Aldo Soto
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PHOTO: chicagotribune.com

The Chicago Cubs are currently riding a season-high six-game winning streak and they’re doing it without three key players.

Kris Bryant has been on the disabled list with shoulder pain, while Yu Darvish has been out since late May. The bullpen has also been without Carl Edwards Jr. since May 30, but the good news is he should be back soon.

Edwards has been with the Iowa Cubs on a rehab assignment and although it’s a great sign that he’s back on the mound the results haven’t been pretty. Edwards has made three appearances in Triple-A in the last week and his last two outings have been rough.

The righty allowed two walks and hit a batter on Monday, only throwing six strikes out of 19 pitches. Edwards made his third relief appearance Wednesday, and it was only slightly better, as he walked one and hit another batter as well. He only threw seven strikes out of 20 pitches.

But again, it’s good to see Edwards back on the mound and he should return to the Cubs soon.

Unfortunately the latest updates for Bryant and Darvish aren’t exactly encouraging. Earlier this week Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Bryant should be back Friday at the latest.

Bryant has been on the disabled list for two weeks with a shoulder issue and before Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers, Bryant’s status was still up in the air.

Not great considering the team first thought he’d be good to go on Wednesday.

The latest update on Darvish isn’t all that optimistic either.

Last week Darvish went to Dallas to get a second opinion on his elbow pain. The Cubs were planning to have Darvish back this past weekend against the Minnesota Twins, but that went out the window after he experienced pain during a bullpen session in Los Angeles.

In Dallas, Darvish got a cortisone shot for the pain and didn’t throw for five days. What’s his timetable look like now? No one really knows.

It obviously sucks that the updates on Bryant and Darvish aren’t clear and as much as it makes the Cubs a worse team, other guys are filling in nicely.

Bryant’s case appears to be a lot less serious and although the Darvish news doesn’t seem to be good, I’ve been on the shut him down until after the all-star break camp since last week’s set back.

The Cubs are 49-35, and have nine games before the break. Just get healthy and continue the run in the second half.

Yoan Moncada Homers Right In Rick Sutcliffe’s Face After Saying He Doesn’t Belong In MLB Yet

By
Aldo Soto
-

Yoan Moncada is 23-years-old and although he made his MLB debut back in 2016, appearing in a few games for the Boston Red Sox in September, it’s easy to forget that the Chicago White Sox second baseman has yet to play a full MLB season.

So, as any reasonable fan can expect, Moncada has had his ups and his downs in 2018. There’s been the good, with 11 home runs and 33 total extra base hits. There’s also been the bad, 120 strikeouts in a little more than 300 at bats. Moncada has been streaky with the White Sox, but really no one can be too upset about what a player, who has less than 140 games under his belt, is achieving or not achieving yet.

Adjustments have to be made and although Moncada has been frustrating to watch during some long stretches of time this year, he has shown several instances of greatness. Again, it’s too early to tell if he’ll reach his potential, but that’s why the White Sox have him up, so he can go through the growing pains.

Don’t tell that to ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe, though, who was pretty hard on Moncada during Wednesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. In Moncada’s second plate appearance, he fell behind in the count 1-2 before working it back to 3-2. ESPN put up a graphic, displaying Moncada’s terrible numbers with two strikes.

Sutcliffe then said that Moncada shouldn’t be up with the White Sox and that he’s not a finished product.

Moncada proceeded to launch a two-run home run on the next pitch.

That had to feel very good for not only Moncada, but his biggest fans too.

It’s always important to remember that it is extremely early in the rebuild process. You have to be patient and you have to recognize that all these young guys aren’t just going to be great right away.

Bears History Reveals Interesting Trend That Hints at Their Future

By
Erik Lambert
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chicago bears history

I’ve always been a big fan of history. Any kind of history. That may not be popular to say with a lot of people, but I feel studying it can often reveal certain trends that can point towards something that will happen in the near future. It was no different with Chicago Bears history either. With the dead period of the offseason in full cry, I decided to go digging into the archives again.

What was I searching for? Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure at first. The only word that kept popping in my head, as mentioned above, was “trends.” Are there any trends about Bears history that might reveal something interesting about this season and those to come? As it turns out that’s an emphatic yes.

It centered around the fact that this will be the 2018 season. It represents the looming end of the latest decade of Bears football. I decided to go back every 10 years and evaluate each Bears team. Specifically, I wanted to know where they’d come from, where they were and where they were going.

I arrived at a surprising conclusion. The Bears are a team of patterns, going up and down as if traveling through hills. The end of one decade they’re ascending towards contention, the next they’re on the precipice of rebuilding. It’s one that has held true since the earliest days of the teams’ existence and leads me to this conclusion:

The Bears will be competing not just for the playoffs but for a Super Bowl in the near future. Here’s why

Chicago Bears history is marked by alternating upswings and downswings

2008:  Downswing

Though the team was still good at this point in time, cracks were already starting to show. They finished a disappointing 7-9 the year before and a good part of their core was beginning to get older. Olin Kreutz was 31. Brian Urlacher was 30. Mike Brown was 30 and ravaged by injuries. The window for success was closing. Though they’d get back to the NFC championship in 2010, most knew that was likely their last, best chance before the true decline began.

1998:  Upswing

The end of the Dave Wannstedt era was finally at hand. Most people didn’t know what the future held but things were already pointed in the right direction. That became clear when third round pick Olin Kreutz gained the starting job at center. He was the first genuine star the team had drafted in a long time and set the stage for those who would follow not long after including Urlacher two years later.

1988:  Downswing

The Bears were one of the best teams in the league in 1988, boasting a 12-4 record and the #1 defense. However, the luster they’d had back in 1985 was long gone. Walter Payton had retired. Jim McMahon was traded. Several of the star pieces on that defense was also getting old. It was a good team, but not a great one anymore. Their loss in the NFC championship to San Francisco marked the end of their title hopes for the next 18 years.

1978:  Upswing

Optimism was sky high by 1978. The Bears had made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years the season before. Walter Payton was ascending to the status of the best football player in the NFL and other pieces of their eventual championship team in 1985 were starting to arrive. Gary Fencik was an established starter at safety. Dan Hampton would be their first round pick the next year and it only got bigger as the 1980s arrived.

1968:  Downswing

This was the first year the Bears weren’t going to have George Halas as their head coach in ages. Worse still a lot of the roster was aging away and the team just couldn’t keep up at replenishing the talent. Though they had Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers in their primes, the Bears were a shadow of the team that won the championship five years earlier. It only got worse over the next five years as they endured arguably their worst period in franchise history.

1958:  Upswing

Though the Bears had failed to win the championship in 1956, it was evident by 1958 that their roster was gaining strength. They had future Hall of Famers Bill George and Doug Atkins on defense along with future All-Pro Joe Fortunato. On offense, there was future Hall of Fame tackle Stan Jones. They also drafted the eventual franchise-leading receiver, Johnny Morris. It was a team just a few pieces away from gunning for a championship. By 1963, they were ready and got the job done.

1948:  Downswing

All good things come to an end. By 1948, the Bears dynasty was in its death rows. Most of the core that had claimed four championships between 1940 and 1946 were either gone or too old to carry the franchise any longer. Certain pieces were in place to continue the winning tradition but bad luck would prevent Chicago from playing for a title again until 1956, never mind winning one.

If the pattern holds, then the 2018 Bears are filled with players that will pave the way towards an eventual Super Bowl date within the next few years. The current makeup of the roster alone offers that optimism. Throw this shocking trend on top of it? It’s hard not to get excited.

VIDEO: Javier Baez Stealing Home Is The Prettiest Thing In Baseball

By
Aldo Soto
-

A few weeks ago I wrote about Javier Baez’s unique season at the plate, as he was on pace to set a few ridiculous records dealing with his low walk rate and low OBP compared to his slugging. Since then, Baez has been on another hot streak, but I bring that article up because I remember someone questioning the opening line to the post.

I wrote…

“Javier Baez is the most exciting player in baseball.”

Well, Baez continues to be exactly that. The most exciting, entertaining player in the game and it’s not close. I don’t care if you’re a Cubs fan, if you hate the Cubs, if you’ve never watched baseball because once you see Baez play there’s no denying that it is fact.

Example No. 1 million.

That was the second time Baez has stolen home this season and the first time came on a similar-looking play.

Baez is the first Cubs player since 1967 to steal home twice in a single season.

Not too bad.

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