Saturday, November 14, 2026
EDGE is live. Chicago fans can now access and explore the beta.
Home Blog Page 3051

Cubs GM Jed Hoyer Answers Questions On Twitter And The Results Are Incredible

By
Aldo Soto
-

Opening Day is one week away and Chicago Cubs GM Jed Hoyer took some time Thursday morning to answer some questions from fans on Twitter.

To start off, Hoyer addressed the @JedHoyer_ Twitter account that is most definitely not Theo Epstein. Everyone’s always wondered who’s behind it mostly because of the two tweets that are found in the account.

And after the Cubs won the 2016 World Series, this lovely gem.

But no one wants to say who’s responsible because again, it most definitely IS NOT Theo Epstein.

All right. So, just another incentive to the Cubs winning the World Series again, we get find out who runs that account.

Now, on to some of the best questions and answers.

As we all know by now, the Cubs have had one of the best rebuilds in sports history and Hoyer was part of that. The front office did a great job early on in the rebuild acquiring talent from other teams, but for Hoyer his favorite trade is the one with the Baltimore Orioles in 2013.

We know how great Jake Arrieta was during his time with the Cubs, but let’s also give Pedro Strop some love, as he’s been one of the most reliable relievers since coming over to the North Side.

Hoyer also got into the evaluation of players using good old fashioned scouting and analytics.

Pretty simple there, need it all to be the well-oiled machine the Cubs have turned into. That being said, the Cubs do make it look easier than it is.

One of the aspects that makes the Cubs so good is that the front office is always having conversations about players. No yes men around Epstein and that’s completely fine.

And of course, you have love this mentality from Hoyer.

Jed’s also got some advice for those of you who want to pursue a career in baseball.

Now, to the questions we all wanted answers to.

In 2019, Theda will be trending as the most popular girl’s name in Chicago.

Anthony Rizzo has something to say about that.

Need a spot to go to in San Diego?

Hmmm, San Diego pizza?

Last, but certainly not least.

Thank you Jed Hoyer, for what will be a great meme to use throughout the 2018 season.

Hold on, still waiting for an answer to this question.

Taylor Gabriel Began Buttering Up His New QB The Moment He Signed

By
Erik Lambert
-
taylor gabriel

One of the favorite stories about the dynasty Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s was how quarterback Terry Bradshaw loved playing wide receivers John Stallworth and Lynn Swann against each other. The two would basically compete for his attention in hopes of getting more passes thrown their way. It sounds somewhat childish but it’s true. Receivers are viewed as divas but they know they won’t get the ball enough unless they say something. Credit to new Chicago Bears target Taylor Gabriel for learning that lesson.

It was certainly taught to him over his early career. After being a featured guy as a rookie in 2014 with 74 targets, he’s barely made it to 50s over the past two seasons. Part of this is having to play in a stacked passing game that features Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu. Leaving for Chicago was undoubtedly his choice to seek out a place he might see more of the football.

Except there’s more to it than just switching teams. Gabriel knew if he was going to get his foot in the door he’d have to make a statement of some kind. His method of attack? Simple but effective.

Taylor Gabriel arrived at Halas Hall in Trubisky jersey

Albert Breer of the MMQB caught up with Bears GM Ryan Pace to talk about the teams’ new additions in free agency. Pace explained that everybody is excited about what’s to come, and it was Gabriel who took the most straightforward approach to illustrating that.

“Yeah, you could tell Mitch was excited, just through a quick text,” Pace said from his office the other night. “He’s fired up, and I know they’re all talking to each other. Today, Taylor was walking around the building in a Trubisky jersey. They’re all ready to go. It’s cool when you sense from the guys that we signed, how excited they are to play with him.

“And Mitch is equally excited, adding these pieces to what we already have.”

The Gabriel-Trubisky connection has already gotten off to a fast start. Not only did the wide receiver don his new QB’s jersey during his initial debut at team headquarters, he also had a memorable first conversation with Trubisky as well. It involved him asking how the 23-year old’s deep ball was, to which the QB replied, “Are you still fast?”

Odds are this connection is going to be a riot to follow, both on and off the field.

Unofficially Official: Ian Happ Is The Cubs 2018 Lead Off Man

By
Patrick Mooney
-

We’ve seen this coming for a while now, but Joe Maddon finally kinda/sorta confirmed that Ian Happ will be leading off for the Cubs (at least for now) yesterday to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I haven’t finalized anything, but (it’s) a combination of what we thought in the beginning, and then he went out and has grabbed it and gotten better,” Maddon said of Happ. “I think he’s answered that he can do this and that he wants to do this.”

Uh, ya think?

Yes Spring stats are almost entirely useless, but it’s the only platform Happ has had to showcase his leadoff abilities and he’s dominated. Part of the reason for Happ’s success has been his willingness to take on the responsibility that comes with setting the table for the rest of his teammates.

“It’s exciting. I’ve felt really comfortable there all Spring, and I’m really enjoying the role. I’m excited to get to this season and start getting on base for these guys for real.”

It’s an exciting development, but Happ still has a ways to go to grab Fowleresque control of the leadoff spot. Gordon Wittenmyer points out in his piece that switch-hitting Ben Zobrist is still an option when healthy and Albert Almora will get looks at the top against LHP.

But, for now, the Cubs feel like they’ve found a primary solution for a problem that plagued the 2017 lineup all season long. That’s about all we could have asked for heading into the Spring.

 

Chicago Bears Could Now Land Top Free Agent Safety For Peanuts

By
Erik Lambert
-
bears free agency

It’s difficult to understand how free safety Eric Reid remains unsigned. He’s 26-years old and a former Pro Bowler. It seems even more difficult to believe with the Chicago Bears involved. They have Vic Fangio in their employment. He was the defensive coordinator who helped get Reid into the NFL back in 2013, during which time the safety had his two best years as a pro.

It seems like a no-brainer the Bears would move to reunite the two in Chicago. Especially as his going unsigned continues to push forward. The longer it goes, the more likely his price is to drops. Chicago could probably get Reid on a cheaper deal they could only dream of under normal conditions. So what’s the holdup?

Namely, it has to do with his controversial national anthem protests when he was in San Francisco. Reid followed the lead of teammate Colin Kaepernick in taking a knee during the anthem as a way of protest against police brutality in black communities. Kaepernick seems to have been frozen out of the league as a result and now owners are reluctant with Reid.

Chicago Bears would easily survive brief backlash of signing Reid

One of the common misconceptions about this is the fact that Reid is perceived as a locker room cancer. That is not the case at all. Several teammates have defended him to the media, saying he’s been a model citizen aside from his protests before games. It’s unclear if he’d be aiming to continue them once signed by a new team, but MMQB expert Andy Benoit thinks teams are making a huge mistake leaving him out in the cold.

“Signing Reid would bring a rush of media and backlash from some sectors for maybe two or three days. Few, if any, non-sports entities would cover the signing. Reid would draw attention if he continues to protest in 2018, but no more than he did in 2017 when the Niners, from afar, appeared to survive just fine.

Reid, unlike Kaepernick, does not have fundamental flaws in his game. He’s experienced as a free safety, box safety, matchup safety, slot corner, and linebacker. He’s a hitter who can also cover, both man and zone. He’s shown instinctive playmaking prowess.”

There is no question Reid would make the Bears defense better. People want to believe that Adrian Amos has turned the corner but the truth is he still has his drawbacks. Reid proved he’s a much more productive player in the Fangio scheme. Being able to get him cheap only strengthens the case for looking past the initial controversy towards the long-term outlook.

Two Teams Are Poised To Make a Run at Bears WR Cameron Meredith

By
Erik Lambert
-
cameron meredith

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace drew a lot of flak from experts for his decisions regarding tags of players on the roster this year. He transition tagged cornerback Kyle Fuller and has used original tender tags on wide receivers Josh Bellamy and Cameron Meredith along with cornerback Bryce Callahan. The fear is this move could backfire since a team could make a hard run at them and if the Bears chose not to match the subsequent offer, would not get any compensation back since all three were undrafted free agents.

However, thus far his decisions seem to have paid off. The Bears were able to retain Fuller at a reasonable price after Green Bay made him an offer, paying $1 million less than the franchise tag money they would’ve had to otherwise. Now it seems the next man they must look to protect is Meredith.

The former Illinois State receiver seemed poised for a breakout year in 2017. The season before he led the team with 888 yards receiving. He was having a strong preseason last August but tragically tore his ACL in the third game against Tennessee. Hopes remain high he can still achieve those high expectations, and the interest in him around the league is evidence enough of that.

Two teams already poised to make offers to Cameron Meredith

It seems some teams believe the Bears might be less inclined to match any offers for Meredith now that they’ve signed Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel. That much is unclear, but what is clear is there’s no shortage of interested parties in the fourth-year receiver.

It’s true that Robinson and Gabriel are major upgrades for the Bears, but even then it makes little sense for the team to let Meredith walk. When healthy he’s a dynamic target who could form a productive trio with those two, far beyond what Chicago had in 2017. It would be nice for the Bears to have one of their own homegrown talents to take part in the fun to come.

Odds are neither the Colts or Ravens will be able to make a strong enough push to dissuade the Bears from matching an offer. He’s coming off a bad knee injury. Neither team is run by a dumb GM who’s desperate enough to overpay for him. Odds are the same situation that developed with Fuller will happen again. That being the market setting the price for Meredith so Pace can match it.

Looking Ahead At The 2018 White Sox Lineup

By
Emmet McClain
-

Earlier today we looked at the probable 2018 White Sox rotation. Now we shift our focus to the lineup. The 2018 White Sox lineup will feature pretty much the exact same players from 2017 plus the addition of catcher Welington Castillo, although the order of those players figures to be a little different. In my opinion, the Opening Day starting lineup will look something like this:

1. Yoan Moncada-2B

2. Avisail Garcia-RF

3. Jose Abreu-1B

4. Matt Davidson-DH

5. Nicky Delmonico-LF

6. Welington Castillo-C

7. Tim Anderson-SS

8. Yolmer Sanchez-3B

9. Adam Engel-CF

The Reasoning Behind The Lineup

Yoan Moncada has openly stated that he feels most comfortable out of the lead-off spot. He will see more pitches and get more at-bats, which will lead to him getting on base at a higher clip where he can use his speed to punish defenses and get into scoring position for…

Avi Garcia. He was a man on a mission last season posting career highs in essentially every offensive category. Skeptics will say it was a fluke year, but even if he doesn’t hit in the .330’s, he can definitely hit in the .290’s. His contact rate plus his mix of power and speed make him an ideal no. 2 hitter in any lineup.

Jose Abreu is going to be Jose Abreu. You can essentially plug him in for his 100+ RBI’s and 30+ home runs. And if the first two guys in the order can get on base for him, then the White Sox should be scoring early and often.

Matt Davidson comes with some huge swing and miss concerns, but if you like to go off of spring training numbers, then you are in luck. Davidson has cut down on his strikeout numbers by more than 10 percent so far in spring. He has stated that his main goal is to draw more walks and hit for more contact. He has enough raw power to where he could lead the team in home runs. Last season he had 26 in 118 games played. He missed a big chunk of time with a wrist injury, so if he can stay healthy, look for those home run numbers to spike into the 30-35 range.

Nicky Delmonico burst onto the scene last season, getting on base almost at will. He ended the year with a .373 OBP. That should drop a bit once pitchers adjust to him, but then he will have the opportunity to adjust right back. That’s all baseball is in a nutshell. A game of adjustments. If he can still hit .260 and get on base at a .350 clip, that’s good enough for me from the 5-hole. Honestly, you can pretty much flip Delmonico and Castillo in the 5/6 spots in this lineup. I have Delmonico here because of his lefty bat behind Avi and Abreu, who are right-handed batters. (Moncada is a switch-hitter).

Welington Castillo was the main addition the White Sox brought in this off-season. Not only did he set new career highs in home runs (20) and runs scored (44), he also threw out a league-leading 44 percent of would-be-basestealers, all while playing only 96 games. His veteran presence behind the plate will also help the younger White Sox pitchers.

Tim Anderson will look to bounce back from a forgetful 2017. So far his head seems to be in the right place and there should be much less pressure on him batting 7th as opposed to 1st or 2nd. Fans will just have to accept his aggressive approach and the fact that he will never be a big on-base guy. Once he gets on he has the speed to swipe bags, go 1st to 3rd on shallow hits, and pick up some easy doubles. He has deceptive strength where he can go for 20 home runs on a yearly basis. Add in 20 doubles and 20 steals and you’re looking at great production from the 7-hole in the lineup.

Yolmer Sanchez is the perfect fit at 8 behind Tim. In fact, Sanchez would be a great 2-hole hitter and will probably get some looks there throughout the season. Yolmer is a contact hitter, so if/when Tim gets on in front of him, hit-and-run opportunities will pop up. Yolmer’s main job here is to move runners up with solid contact and/or produce productive outs, i.e fly balls that allow the runners to tag. When Yolmer gets on, he can be a decent base stealing threat, but won’t wow anyone with his speed.

Finally we have Adam Engel. While a freak of nature in center field, he had an ugly year at the plate last season. “Ugly” is actually underselling it, but you get the point. This off-season, Engel has been working tirelessly on fixing his swing. He has added a leg kick that seems to be helping him find a consistent rhythm at the plate. Even if he can hit in the .230 range, fans will take it granted he batted .166 last year. He has absolute wheels although he needs to refine his base stealing technique to truly tap into his potential of another 20-steal threat. If he can get on he essentially becomes a second leadoff man for Moncada back at the top of the lineup.

To Wrap Up

When you look up and down this potential lineup, it really isn’t that bad. Teams could certainly do worse that is. The first full season of Moncada should be an exciting one to say the least. There is a healthy mix of speed and power from top to bottom, and more should be on the way by the name of Eloy Jimenez and some other mid-level prospects such as Ryan Cordell. They definitely aren’t going to be one of the top offensive teams in the MLB, but they have enough talent to stay in games and grind out wins. In year 2 of a rebuild, that is more than enough.

Cubs Execute Perfect Relay To Throw Runner Out At Home

By
Aldo Soto
-

Yu Darvish allowed a couple hits in the first inning against his former team on Wednesday, but the Chicago Cubs showed off one of the prettiest plays in baseball, executing the perfect relay to throw out Joey Gallo at home.

It started with Elvis Andrus hitting a rope to the right of Kris Bryant down the left-field line. Gallo was at first base after singling with one out in the inning and the Texas Rangers decided it was time to test the Cubs, as Gallo was sent home.

The Rangers’ announcer says, “Gallo can run,” as he stepped on third base. Well, Gallo may be able to run, but he wasn’t able to outrun Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez, who each had throws right on the money. Baez’s strike to home gave Willson Contreras time to make the catch and put the tag on a sliding Gallo for the out.

A masterpiece by Schwarber, Baez and Contreras.

Kris Bryant And Kyle Schwarber Hit Home Runs Against Rangers

By
Aldo Soto
-

Joe Maddon put out as close of a regular-season lineup as you’ll see during spring training and for the fans watching the Chicago Cubs have delivered with some fireworks against the Texas Rangers. Kris Bryant smacked his first spring training home run, a three-run shot to left field that was followed by a Kyle Schwarber opposite-field dinger to start the next inning.

I think the Cubs are ready for Opening Day.

Also, I’m convinced that if Schwarber goes with the high socks every game he’ll hit 80 homers this season.

Proof:

By the way, Yu Darvish, nasty.

Opening Day next week. Let’s go!

Allen Robinson Enlisted Instagram Followers To Lure Allen Hurns To Chicago

By
Erik Lambert
-
allen robinson

New Chicago Bears receiver Allen Robinson isn’t the bashful type. When he sets his mind to something, he aims to accomplish it. He wanted a chance to play with Mitch Trubisky and he’ll be getting. Now his new goal, as stated in a recent article, is to find a way to woo former Jacksonville Jaguars teammate Allen Hurns into joining him in Chicago.

Robinson and Hurns are good buddies, forging their friendship during their time together in Jacksonville. In 2015, they reached their pinnacle with just over 2,400 yards combined with 24 touchdowns. They looked like the next great one-two punch among NFL wide receivers. Unfortunately, injuries got in the way over the next couple seasons.

It seems Robinson is of the belief there is still time to recreate some of that magic they had with the Jaguars in Chicago. He’s already in place and Hurns recently became available after Jacksonville chose to cut him in favor of other options at receiver. Since then he’s garnered a ton of interest from teams like the Cowboys and Jets, but Robinson is convinced he can get him to the Bears.

Allen Robinson used Instagram to swarm Hurns with calls to Chicago

He already got things started on Twitter, which earned a response from Hurns who stated the Bears were one of the teams interested. Seems that wasn’t enough for him. Next Robinson turned to his sizable following on Instagram and delivered a simple message:  blow up Hurns’ page with a flood of request to get him to Chicago. Ther results were quite extensive.

It’s an impressive maneuver on Robinson’s part, but is it enough? The odds aren’t favorable he’ll make it out of Dallas or New York without a deal at this point. Besides that, the Bears aren’t hurting in need of a third receiver. Most expect Cameron Meredith to fill that role once the situation regarding his restricted free agent status is taken care of. Some would say he’s actually superior to Hurns, but productivity would say otherwise.

Hurns’ 2015 season was far superior to Meredith’s best to date, which was in 2016. Still, the odds are Meredith will end up being cheaper. Not to mention he’s a personal find of GM Ryan Pace, who reportedly loves the young receiver and desires to keep him in Chicago. Is there a possibility they could get both? Sure, but the odds aren’t favoring that at this point.

Joe Maddon Gives Preview Of Cubs Regular-Season Lineup

By
Aldo Soto
-

Opening Day is just about a week away and the Chicago Cubs are putting the finishing touches to their roster. Manager Joe Maddon hasn’t had many questions to figure out during spring training and that includes the construction of the Cubs’ lineup.

However, Wednesday’s starters against the Texas Rangers might just be a preview of what fans see in the regular season for the Cubs. Well, at least when Addison Russell has the day off, as he does today against Texas.

At this point, it looks like Ian Happ is going to get the first chance of batting leadoff. When Russell gets the day off during the regular season, Javier Baez will be at shortstop and that’ll leave second base open for Ben Zobrist.

So, here’s today’s lineup, which is pretty much what it could be in the regular season even if you switch out Russell for Zobrist.

Although there will be a few changes throughout the season, that’s pretty much what the lineup will be for the most part. Yes, you can hate Jason Heyward all you want, but as long as the rest of the offense is producing and he keeps his gold glove play up in right field, he’ll be in the lineup.

The 2-5 spots in the lineup probably won’t change at all with Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber. But as we know, guys like Albert Almora Jr. and Ben Zobrist are going to need at bats, so expect some changes when Schwarber sits out against tough lefties. Or who knows, maybe Schwarber has put it all together and becomes the monster hitter that Theo Epstein thinks he can become.

Again, I think when Baez and Russell are both in the lineup, they’ll be in the slots that second base (6th) and shortstop (8th) are at in today’s lineup against the Rangers.

With all that being said, Maddon has used hundreds of lineup combinations every season with the Cubs, so although this might look like a good template for the regular season, you have to expect him to mix and match once again in 2018. It helps that Maddon is equipped with a versatile roster, which allows him to exploit as many matchups as possible.

1...3,0503,0513,052...3,362Page 3,051 of 3,362

Subscribe to our Newsletter

✶ An Unfiltered Voice For Chicago Sports Fans ✶

Chicago Sports News

About Us

© Sports Mockery, Inc. 2026