Kyle Schwarber now has three home runs this week and his latest was another monster blast down in Arizona.
The Chicago Cubs are playing the Oakland A’s at their former spring training home Hohokam Stadium and Schwarber sent a moonshot to right field, clearing the bullpens and landing on the bern above.
Yeah, so about him losing weight and making some of his power go away, not quite correct.
After Schwarber’s home run, Cubs catcher Chris Gimenez hit a home run too on the very next pitch.
Ryan Pace deserves credit for one thing. He’s not prone to making the same mistakes twice. His Ray McDonald experience back in 2015 has seen him avoid any players with questionable character. His inability to pull the trigger on trading up for Marcus Mariota and Carson Wentz drove him to do so for Mitch Trubisky. The John Fox results taught him that maybe experience isn’t all its cracked up to be for a head coach, leading him to hire Matt Nagy.
Pace is a young GM who is learning as he goes and the lessons seem to be getting through. His drafting significantly improved when comparing his earlier work to his latest. The biggest problem remaining on his record is how he’s managed free agency. Simply put it is by far his greatest weak point. Aside from a few notable hits like Akiem Hicks, Danny Trevathan and Josh Sitton it’s been a rough go for Pace on the veteran market.
His 2017 class was clearly a low point with Mike Glennon headlining a group that did next to nothing for the team. It’s this reason that has so many Bears fans worried. Despite having a wealth of salary cap space, people are skeptical that Pace will know how to use it this time. Except it may not be on him anymore.
A few weeks ago I reported that one of the biggest reasons Pace was able to lure Nagy to Chicago, along with retaining Vic Fangio, was a concession on personnel. Put simply the two coaches would have far greater latitude on the types of players pursued for their respective schemes. It seems he’s ready to follow through on that pledge as a source indicated to me. I asked who the Bears would be in on for this free agent market. The answer received was crystal clear.
“Anyone and everyone. Pace is giving free reign letting Vic and Matt dictate who to sign. Reality is the Bears are in on everyone who’s available.”
This changes things. By this point, it’s usually easy to predict how Pace approaches free agency. He might go after one top tier free agent at a need position and then sit back to starting digging through the second and third tier groups looking for hidden gems. Pace is not a man who views free agency as a primary avenue to long-term success. The problem is he’s running out of time after three-straight losing seasons.
Giving Nagy and Fangio the green light could mean the Bears are significantly more aggressive this free agency period than in recent memory. Coaches, after all, aren’t overly concerned with the long-term. They’re trying to win now. So even at the cost of their healthy cap, they’ll go after every notable talent they can to upgrade this roster.
It will be up to Pace to make the deals happen. Bears fans should buckle up since this could mean unexpected names may be surfacing in the coming days.
The Chicago Bears roster situation isn’t nearly as bad as its been the past three years. GM Ryan Pace finally has them on a stable footing with a strong core of young players. That said he’s still got lots of work to do. Preliminary evaluations would suggest that wide receiver headlines their list of biggest needs. However, when evaluating the talent likely to be available? That shifts drastically to another position.
Finding decent wide receivers shouldn’t be hard for the Bears in 2018. Both the free agent and draft avenues should offer quality talent. The far bigger problem is at the edge rusher position. Outside of Leonard Floyd, who is coming off a torn ACL, the Bears have no proven talent at that position. Pernell McPhee and Willie Young were both cuts. Lamarr Houston is a free agent.
What’s worse is the free agent market looks barren on that front and the draft isn’t much better. This means the Bears might have to get creative, meaning the trade front. Problem is teams aren’t prone to giving away productive pass rushers. So any deal would likely come with a degree of risk and faith. Is there one name out there who might fit the bill?
It’s hard to say where things went wrong with Nate Orchard. Then again there are a ton of players who can say that after spending their early careers in Cleveland. The fact is the former second round pick hasn’t been able to get his career off the ground. He delivered a whopping 18.5 sacks for Utah in his final college season. Yet in the three years since joining the NFL? He only has five.
Now he could be on the chopping block. He’s in the final year of his rookie contract and buried on the Browns depth chart behind other players. Not only that but he is playing a position at defensive end many don’t think he fits well. Projections hinted he was a better fit for a 3-4 outside linebacker. Other notable Browns picks were already shipped out like DeShone Kizer and Danny Shelton. Orchard could be next and likely be had dirt cheap too.
Rest assured this move should not be considered THE solution to the Bears’ problem. More like part of a solution. Orchard would be a young depth piece who still has room to grow. He’s only 25-years old. Perhaps playing under Vic Fangio, who’s no stranger to reclamation projects, could reignite the force he was during his final year at Utah.
If it doesn’t work out the Bears don’t lose much in terms of draft capital. If it does? They score a young pass rusher who can help them for years to come. It’s a calculated risk at a favorable cost. The sort of thing that would appeal to Pace.
The Chicago Cubs have signed two former players, but not to play baseball. The team announced that Chris Denorfia and Matt Murton have been hired to roles in the front office.
Denorfia last played in MLB in 2015 with the Cubs, which happened to be the final season of his 10-year career. He’ll be a special assistant to Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer. Meanwhile, Murton is back in the organization as a baseball operations assistant.
Murton spent the first 3.5 years with the Cubs before he was traded to the Oakland A’s in 2008, in the six-player deal that saw Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin head to Chicago and Josh Donaldson, Eric Patterson and Sean Gallagher along with Murton go to Oakland.
Murton played in Japan for six years and was a hitting machine. He broke Ichiro’s single-season hitting record in 2010, and became the 16th foreign player to eclipse the 1,000 hit mark in Japan.
#Cubs have named Chris Denorfia as Special Assistant to the President/General Manager and Matt Murton as Baseball Operations Assistant. pic.twitter.com/bx0MaD3ESW
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 9, 2018
The Cubs haven’t been shy about hiring former MLB players to front office jobs. The team’s current first base coach, Will Venable, was originally brought tp the organization as an assistant to the president/GM before he was picked to be the first base coach after 2017.
There’s also David Ross, who is diving deeper into his front office responsibilities with the Cubs this year.
It seems as though this front office has been very proactive in giving ex MLB players an avenue to continue working in baseball. A little more than a week ago, Jon Heyman reported the Cubs tried to hire three other former players to be a coach for Joe Maddon. One of those names was Aaron Boone, who was eventually hired by the New York Yankees to be their manager.
Former Cubs player Mark DeRosa and Raul Ibanez were the other two tabbed by the Cubs front office that feels they can be future managers.
Thus far the Chicago Bears have stayed out of the trade frenzy that continues to sweep across the NFL like a wildfire. Is GM Ryan Pace gunshy or is he just waiting for the opportunity to strike? The Bears don’t have a ton of draft capital to give up in any sort of deal. So anything they pursue would likely be of the cheaper variety. That involves an element of risk.
Then again Pace can’t hope to make this team better without risks. If he wants to entertain a possible deal, he should pay attention to the Cleveland Browns. It’s become obvious that they are in the process of a massive roster overhaul. Just in the past 48 hours, they’ve executed four different trades. They sent Danny Shelton to New England while bringing in Damarious Randall, Tyrod Taylor, and Jarvis Landry.
That last one creates an interest situation. It’s clear that Landry and Josh Gordon will be the primary receivers for Cleveland in 2018. This begs the question. What do they plan to do with Corey Coleman? Given what just happened to Shelton, another former first round pick, is it possible the wide receiver is on the trade block?
Cleveland sports radio host Daryl Ruiter of 923 The Fan seems to think that likelihood is growing by the day. It’s becoming clear new GM John Dorsey is unloading all the notable names acquired by the previous regime. Coleman is among them.
John Dorsey met with Danny Shelton’s agent in Indianapolis; his departure not a surprise here. Don’t be shocked if Corey Coleman’s name surfaces in trade talks either. #Browns
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) March 10, 2018
Has been some talk in the past that Pace really like Coleman. May be worth keeping an eye on. #Bears https://t.co/oBRJnWy8Bq
— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) March 10, 2018
Coleman is an interesting case. He’s missed 13 combined games through his first two seasons with a pair of hand injuries. That obviously won’t appeal to Bears fans who’ve seen more than enough of receivers who can’t stay healthy whether it’s Alshon Jeffery, Eddie Royal, Kevin White or Cameron Meredith. That said Coleman has continued to flash his potential as a big play threat.
He’s also just 23-years old, still quite young for a player going into his third year. Coleman did his biggest damage at Baylor in college, playing in their fast-paced spread offense. Considering this is a style embraced by new Bears offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, somebody like Coleman with his quickness and speed would seem appealing.
It’s possible the Bears might employ a system far better suited to his talents. Matt Nagy could end up seeing some Tyreek Hill in his game. Any deal will come down to price though. Pace won’t entertain the idea if the Browns try to extort anything beyond a late round pick. So this will rely on Dorsey’s personal evaluation of Coleman.
Unlike my first Cubs spring training game of 2018, I didn’t witness a murder at Sloan Park, but there was almost a death. Me.
Well, me and every single Cubs fan at Sloan Park Thursday, when they beat the San Diego Padres 10-4. See, the major news from the game was when Javier Baez left in the second inning after he hit a double. He felt something in his hamstring and Cubs fans were on high alert.
Luckily, Baez said he’s fine, so we’re all good.
Take a deep breath, #Cubs fans. Javy is OK. Baez: "I'm completely fine, 100 percent. I got some treatment. The trainers were all over it and everything is fine"
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) March 8, 2018
But holy fucking shit that was nothing compared to what almost happened to Anthony Rizzo.
The Baez panic was probably over blown because Thursday’s game wasn’t televised and hamstring injuries can be so unpredictable. However, there’s nothing scarier than seeing two players running full speed and colliding on the field.
I bet there was no one more afraid at what could have happened than Cubs prospect Chesny Young. He came in for Baez and then on a foul pop up down the right-field line, Young sprinted over to try and make the catch. The one problem being that so was Rizzo. Young collided with Rizzo, sending both players to the ground and everyone at Sloan Park held their breath.
OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK! pic.twitter.com/S93o5GEMF3
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) March 8, 2018
Luckily, and this is nothing against Young, but luckily Rizzo got right up, dusted himself off and was fine. The Cubs trainer came out and Young eventually walked off the field under his power.
Phew. Thought it was Rizzo at first. Young walking off. Hope he's all right. pic.twitter.com/iuM48pb1xC
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) March 8, 2018
We’ve already seen a tragic collision in 2016, but I don’t think I could have stomached another one, especially when it’s a spring training game and it’s Rizzo.
As for Young, the Cubs are saying he only has a contusion.
Via Cubs.com.
“We’re saying contusion,” Maddon said of Young, who has a bruise on his head. “I have not heard the word ‘concussion’ at all. We still want to watch him. When he got hit like that, he said, ‘I want to stay in the game,’ but I can’t let that happen. I thought we did the right thing. I hope we are correct that it is a contusion.”
Meanwhile, since Thursday’s game, Baez still says he feels something in the hamstring, so they’re taking it easy.
“It’s still there, it’s still bothering him a bit,” manager Joe Maddon said of the soreness. “We’re trying to figure out exactly what’s going on.”
Let’s hope it really isn’t anything serious and that it completely goes away because nagging hamstring injuries are the worst.
In other injury news, Carrie Muskat says Pedro Strop is expected to pitch in a game next week. He’s been sidelined with a calf issue. Strop did throw a bullpen session Thursday.
Willson Contreras hasn’t played since Tuesday. He’s been out because of a fever.
Finally, shoutout to this lovely fan, who was on the edge of her seat since first pitch on Thursday. Gotta respect the devotion even when it’s only spring training baseball.
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT tell this lady it's only a spring training game. Edge of her seat, finger biting. Love the passion for March baseball. pic.twitter.com/bJm1ksWKZp
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) March 8, 2018
The Chicago Bears dropped out of the Jarvis Landry chase fairly early. It seems they weren’t wild about the idea of swapping first round picks with the Miami Dolphins, which was a reported part of the original deal proposed. In the end, it was the Cleveland Browns who got him. GM Ryan Pace thus continues his streak of never having traded draft picks for veteran players in his career. It seems like he plans to make or break himself in free agency.
That’s not an unreasonable plan. Thanks to his careful management the Bears are set up to have a huge amount of salary cap space. Latest projections say they sit at just over $64 million dollars. That’s like to go up even more once they cut quarterback Mike Glennon and receive an $11.5 million additional boost. In other words, it’s likely the Bears will be busy once free agency opens on March 14th.
The question becomes of all the notable names expected to become available, who will Pace zero in on? One might’ve said a cornerback before the transition tag was placed on Kyle Fuller. With his rights controlled, that likely makes wide receiver the unquestioned focal point. If so, there is one name that seems to have their attention.
There is no question that Landry was one of the top names available this off-season. Can he be considered a true #1 talent though? His two Pro Bowls offer that argument, but many believe he’s just a productive slot receiver who shined because the ball kept going his way. He doesn’t give off near the same luster of top-tier gifts like Allen Robinson.
The 24-year old first burst onto the scene in 2015 when he torched defenses for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns. Though his 2016 saw a regression that was mostly due to the ongoing struggles of quarterback Blake Bortles. The tape clearly shows Robinson to be a rare specimen who can win in any number ways whether it be his size, his speed, or his route running.
He represents a caliber of receiver the Bears haven’t seen since Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery left. There’s no telling the benefits he could bring to quarterback Mitch Trubisky and that passing game. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune seems to think the Bears are eager to find out
“It will be interesting to see what happens with Landry, but I think the Bears would prefer Allen Robinson if they can get in the running for the Jaguars wide receiver.”
Gil Brandt of NFL.com, a longtime former scout, an executive for the Dallas Cowboys, believes Robinson is the ideal target. This in spite of his worrisome injury situation.
“If I were the Bears, I’d target Allen Robinson. Yes, he lost almost all of the 2017 season to a torn ACL, but I’m still surprised the Jaguars didn’t use the franchise tag to keep him around. And Chicago could really use him. Consider that Robinson put up more receiving yards in one season (1,400 in 2015) than any Bears player not named Alshon Jeffery in the last three seasons combined.”
The ACL injury can be considered a freak occurrence. Robinson never missed a game the previous two seasons. All indications are his rehab is on schedule and he’ll be 100% long before teams hit the field for organized activities. The fact he doesn’t turn 25 until late August is another bonus. So do the Bears have a reasonable shot at him?
Money certainly isn’t the issue. They have more than enough to make him one of the highest-paid receivers in football if need be. Robinson also grew up in Detroit. Signing in Chicago would put him closer to home. Last but not least it appears he’s a Cubs fan based on his Instagram pictures. It comes down to whether Pace and head coach Matt Nagy can make a good enough sales pitch.
The Blackhawks have extended defenseman Jan Rutta’s contract through the 2018 season, the deal reportedly cost Chicago $2.25 million.
This is, of course, good news for Rutta, as he is getting a nice $1.35 million raise. This past season, Rutta has lead the Hawks defenseman in terms of goals, lighting the lamp six times.
Jan Rutta's contract is one year for $2.25 million.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) March 8, 2018
Prior to the deal, Rutta was pending as an unrestricted free agent. He told the Chicago Sun Times the following:
“During the deadline, things were kind of crazy, I survived the deadline, and I’m here. . . . Really excited about the contract and to [be in] the lineup again.”
While this may seem crazy to Rutta, what is really crazy is the money he will be bringing in along with how the team has been spending their money.
Also within the past week, the Hawks extended Erik Gustafsson’s contract for two years. He’ll earn $1 million in the first year and $1.4 million in the second year. Next season, the Hawks will have the same defenseman on the ice as they had this season, including Gustafsson, Duncan Keith, Connor Murphy, Jordan Oesterle, Jan Rutta and Brent Seabrook, who didn’t perform as high as their salaries portray, which makes me second guess their potential for next season.
It looks like we will be heading into another year of the same defensive group, who will be another year older in regards to Seabrook and Keith. This doesn’t look too promising since, in all honesty, they’ve been bad. Hopefully, Bowman’s trust in resigning Gustafsson and Rutta means they can take the next step in their progression and help take some of the heavy minutes away from Keith and Seabrook during the regular season. But, even that doesn’t sound encouraging.
The Blackhawks and Bowman, in particular, need to be more frugal with their money if they want to set themselves up for future success, careless spending is what got us into this situation in the first place. Much like many of Bowman’s deals, I think he could have gotten Rutta for much less.
Even though the cap is expected to increase somewhere between $78 and $82 million during the 2018-2019 season, the Hawks should rethink these impulse buys.
One of my favorite arguments to have with people after I’ve had a few pops is, “What is the best sports movie ever created?” I could continue on and write a 3,000 word dissertation on my arguments for my top five list but I’ll save you the rest of your weekend. However, my criteria for judging sports movies fall within five distinct categories:
Every time the argument of “best sports movie” comes up, ‘The Sandlot’ will forever be on my top five list. It scores highly in each of the five criteria listed above,
And a line that I use on a daily basis:
Chicago Cubs super-utility man Ben Zobrist must be a fan of the Sandlot as well. If you recall, in 2016 Zobrist biked to Wrigley Field in full uniform in late September. A professional baseball player riding his bike to work was a clear nod to the Sandlot since damn near every scene in the movie was the kids riding their bikes to and from the field. However, if you look closer at Zobrist’s ride from 2016, you see another way he paid homage to the movie.
Yes my friends, those are the famous PF Flyers worn by none other than Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez. The black high-top shoes were very popular in the 1960s and hyped its slogan of “run faster, jump higher” and they were clearly the reason why Benny was able to get away from that big ass dog at the end of the movie.
Zobrist has now taken the PF Flyers a step further. Per Mark Gonzalez of the Chicago Tribune, Zobrist was spotted doing some conditioning drills after he was pulled from yesterday’s Spring Training game in a pair of black PF Flyers.
“But there was a twist. After completing his drills, Zobrist showed that his carefully designed shoe — complete with the PF Flyers logo — provided extra padding.
There’s not a shot in hell that Zobrist will EVER have the speed of Benny The Jet Rodriguez but I guess rocking some PF Flyers couldn’t hurt. To be honest, I could care less what shoe Zobrist wears as long as he changes his walk-up music for this season. Literally nobody wants to hear his wife scream, “BENNY, BENNY, BENNY” every single game as part of her rendition of “Benny and the Jets.”
GM Ryan Pace has a specific method of operation when it comes to finding the best players in the NFL draft. Last year it was revealed that aside from constructing a traditional board of player rankings, he takes it one step further. He sets aside a list of names from the class who fit certain criteria. They must be both squeaky clean in the locker room and excellent talents on the field. This list was given a label: the “Bears Box.”
Last year it was reported that the Bears were fortunate enough to land not one but two members of their Bears Box in the 2017 draft. They were quarterback Mitch Trubisky and tight end Adam Shaheen. Considering the class only unveiled around 20 such names for the list, it was a stroke of good fortune in their eyes.
#Bears notate draftees with a "#Bears box" when they check all boxes in locker room and field. Trubisky/Shaheen both qualify. Only 20 or so
— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) April 29, 2017
So this brings up an interesting question. Which prospects coming out of the combine this year likely landed inside the Bears Box? Here is a list of names that seem to fit the criteria.
Widely viewed by many as the best overall prospect in the draft, and for good reason. Watch the tape for just a couple minutes and it’s clear he’s a man amongst toddlers at times. Nelson is a big, strong and ferocious blocker who regularly plows open running lanes. He also showcases great awareness and quick feet to pick up pass rushers on stunts or blitzes. Despite nursing a tweaked hamstring that prevented him from running the 40, he still threw up 35 reps on the bench and a 26.5-inch vertical at 325 lbs.
Maryland has never been typically known for producing front line NFL talent but that has begun to change. Stefon Diggs is one of the best receivers in football and Yannick Ngakoue is an emerging pass rusher. D.J. Moore is aiming to build off that growing legacy. The 6’0″ receiver broke out in 2017 with 1,033 yards and eight touchdowns. This despite being surrounded by poor talent and QB play. He then supplemented that quality tape with a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash and a 39.5-inch vertical jump at the combine.
Teams might get caught up in the debate about his somewhat average size but there’s no longer any denying Harold Landry is the real deal. Over the past two seasons, he had 21.5 sacks and 30.5 tackles for loss at Boston College. This despite playing most of 2017 with a bum ankle. Word is he’s fully recovered now and it showed at the combine. He ran at 4.64 in the 40 at 252 lbs, jumped a respectable 36.5 inches and did a lightning-quick three-cone drill in 6.88 seconds. He’s productive, athletic and plays through pain.
People are all over Tremaine Edmunds from Virginia Tech but the fact is Leighton Vander Esch showed him up both on the field and at the combine this year. Edmunds started two years and Vander Esch only one yet the Boise State product still had more tackles (128 to 112) and more interceptions (4 to 1) in his college career. He then backed this up with a better bench press (20 to 19) and broad jump (124 inches to 117). Edmunds ran a faster 40 but Vander Esch still did a respectable 4.65 at 256 lbs and also had a 39.5-inch vertical. If that weren’t enough, he led his high school football and basketball teams to state titles.
The words “if only” will be mentioned around Denzel Ward a lot. Why? He’s a freak athlete who is the latest to come out of the cornerback factory at Ohio State. If only he were a bit taller. Ward is 5’10”, which is considered less than ideal for top NFL cover corners. This makes it difficult to buy into him completely as a top prospect. Never mind his excellent tape which shows a potential lockdown player or his 4.32 in the 40 and 39-inch vertical jump. It certainly doesn’t look like a couple inches will make much difference in whether or not he can play.
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