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REPORT: Industry Source Believes Cubs Will Trade For Zach Britton

By
Aldo Soto
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I know some fans get pissed off about all these rumors and reports, but boy do I find it all entertaining. You have teams leaking info left and right and you’re really never sure what’s true and what’s bullshit. So, take this for whatever it’s worth, but according to MLB.com reporter Mark Feinsand, one of his sources thinks the Chicago Cubs are going to trade for Baltimore Orioles closer Zach Britton.

But there’s more. The Cubs played the Orioles this weekend and destroyed Baltimore’s pitching staff, scoring 27 runs in the three-game series, but they also had scouts taking closer looks at not only Britton but other relievers as well.

With the Orioles reportedly ready to sell most of their valuable players before the trade deadline, several teams were in attendance during the weekend.

Britton, 29, is coming off one of the most impressive years by a closer in MLB history. In 2016, the lefty had a 0.54 ERA and 0.84 WHIP, 47-for-47 in save chances. He only gave up four runs in 69 innings, striking out 74 batters to 18 walks.

And we’re not talking about a one-year wonder either. Britton had 1.65 ERA in 2014 and 1.92 ERA in 2015, saving 73 games in those two seasons. He’s under team control through 2018, making $11.4 million this year.

Remember the Andrew Miller trade last year? Yeah, the price is going to be high for Britton, despite having missed significant time with an arm injury this season. He’s only pitched 14 innings in 2017, missing almost all of May, all of June and coming back in early July.

Despite that, Britton is still one of the top closers in the game and again the Orioles will get a big haul for him.

This is why I love this report. We already saw the Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthal report that the Cubs were still after Sonny Gray even after trading for Jose Quintana last week. Now, they’re in on Britton? We’ve seen that the Los Angeles Dodgers are trying to get Britton too, so I think Theo Epstein is simply trying to drive these prices through the roof for these teams. He jumped the market and got his guy, Quintana, the best pitcher available in the market, now he’s taking advantage and is going to at least make someone pay a massive price for whatever they want.

Can the Cubs get Britton? You might think they have no shot because they’ve given up Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease, but the Cubs still have plenty of prospects that could be valuable to other teams.

Anyway, stay tuned these next two weeks because we’re starting to see a few teams who are gearing up for a fire sale and we’re on the verge of seeing some fireworks.

Sports Illustrated All-Time Draft Has One Gigantic Chicago Bear Missing

By
Erik Lambert
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chicago bears greats

The Sports Illustrated All-Time NFL draft led by columnist Peter King was an entertaining and informative feature. It breaks down like this. King wanted to see what would happen when an NFL draft-like scenario was played out where every single player who has come and gone in the game of pro football would be up for grabs. This of course includes the many Chicago Bears greats stretching back to the 1920s.

The rules were broken down as follows:

  • Each team would select 25 players and one coach. Twenty-five rounds, plus a round (in reverse draft order) for the coaches.
  • Each team would field 11 players on offense and 11 on defense, plus a placekicker and a punter. In addition, (at least) one wild-card player would be selected.
  • Each team must draft one QB, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, two tackles, two guards and a center.
  • The defense could be either a 4-3 or a 3-4, plus two cornerbacks and two safeties.
  • If a GM selected a player who played two positions (for instance, center and linebacker, or kicker and punter), the GM could deploy that player at both spots, allowing for another wild-card pick.
  • Conceptually, the process would be era-neutral. The assumption was that players who excelled in one era would be equally good in any other.

The best part is they enlisted the help of 12 football personalities to run the draft, many of whom are actual Hall of Fame GMs including Ron Wolf and Bill Polian. Not to mention the man who got Ryan Pace hired, Ernie Accorsi. All of them, via conference call, would execute the building of their own all-time teams. Suffice to say there were plenty of surprises.

Chicago Bears greats represented well save for one

For starters the first overall pick wasn’t a quarterback. Nope that honor went to New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor. The first QB didn’t go until the third pick. Was it Tom Brady? Was it Joe Montana. No sir. It was Johnny Unitas who stole that spot, the originator of the two-minute drill himself.

The Bears had three notable names go in the top 27 picks. Walter Payton was of course the first to go at #18, followed quickly by Gale Sayers at #21 and Dick Butkus at #27. After that not a single Bear went all the way until pick #82 when Mike Ditka came off the board. In total 19 players who wore navy blue were selected out of a possible 300. Not too bad. It wasn’t until the final round, when the GMs got to select their coaches that the biggest travesty occurred for Chicago.

Credit: SI

Naturally there are some no brainer names on the list like Lombardi, Belichick, Shula, Brown and Walsh. However, upon closer inspection isn’t there a name missing? No it’s not Ditka. Where the hell is George Halas? You know the guy. One of the founding fathers of pro football? A six-time NFL champion and two-time Coach of the Year? How is he not on this list?

Meanwhile guys like Marv Levy, Tony Dungy and Don Coryell make it. Sure they were successful and/or pioneers in some fashion but their accomplishments wouldn’t even shine the shoes of Halas’. Then there’s Curly Lambeau. The Green Bay Packers founder also had a legendary career, quite similar to Halas in fact. Problem is Halas absolutely owned him in head-to-head matchups. The Bears were 35-21-5 against the Packers during their run against each other.

Then again personal bias always creeps into decisions like this. It’s a real shame because Halas deserved to be one of those selections. Further proof, if nothing else, that he remains woefully underappreciated to this day.

Brian Campbell Retires From Hockey But Will Remain With The Blackhawks

By
Marc-Louis Paprzyca
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The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that Brian Campbell will be retiring from playing hockey. News first hit last through a rumor from Barstool Big Cat of Barstool Sports but it was made official today.

Campbell played in 17 NHL seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers and most notably for the Chicago Blackhawks. In that time he amassed 87 goals, 417 assists and tallied his 500th career point with the Blackhawks on January 22, 2017.

Campbell played in multiple All-Star games but is best remembered for assisting Patrick Kane on the deciding goal of the 2010 Stanley Cup Victory.

Campbell will join the Blackhawks front office in the Business operations department. He had this to say about everything, “I’m excited to transition into the next step in both my professional career and life. I’m grateful to the countless number of teammates, coaches, team staff and fans that I have crossed paths with throughout my playing career in Chicago, Buffalo, Florida and San Jose. The Blackhawks organization has allowed me to take on this challenge and I’m thankful for this new opportunity.”

Follow @Pappy_Hour on Twitter for more Blackhawks news and musings.

Nick Kwiatkoski Could Make Some Rare History With Chicago Bears

By
Erik Lambert
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nick kwiatkoski

People laud the history of Chicago Bears linebackers, and with good reason. No other team in the NFL has produced a consistent amount of all-time greats at that position. Three are already in the Hall of Fame in Bill George, Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary. Odds are good that Brian Urlacher will soon join them. That’s quite a lineup. However, there is one bit of history surrounding this success people don’t know.

It was expected. Those four men were all high draft choices coming out of college. Urlacher and Butkus were both first round picks while George and Singletary were second round picks. None of them were taken later than the 38th pick in the draft. So they were taken near the top of the talent pool and panned out. That’s often how it’s supposed to work.

Far less often is the Bears having success with mid to late round picks at the position. That is what makes the steady improvement of Nick Kwiatkoski so intriguing.

Chicago Bears linebackers legacy could deepen (literally) with Kwit

The kid out of West Virginia was an oddity in 2016. Nobody really saw him coming. GM Ryan Pace traded up in the draft to get him in the fourth round. Some were skeptical, thinking the team had bigger issues to deal with than inside linebacker. Especially after signing proven veterans Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman. Then Trevathan injured his knee and Freeman was suspended for PED violations.

In their absence Kwiatkoski got a chance to play and over time he really started coming into his own.

It gave people hope that with a little more offseason work he could become one of the franchises’ next top linebackers. What would make that accomplishment so special is his origin story compared to those who came before. As stated before the bulk of successful Bears linebackers were drafted early. Of the eight Pro Bowl linebackers they’ve developed, seven of them were taken between the first and third rounds.

The only man to break that trend is Joe Fortunato. He was a seventh round choice of the team in 1952 and went to five Pro Bowls during his career in Chicago. That may sound like an all-time steal, but keep this in mind. Fortunato was the 80th pick of that draft. There were fewer teams in the NFL those days. If that were a modern selection today, Fortunato would be a third rounder.

That’s what makes Kwiatkoski such an exciting possibility.

Could be the latest pick in Bears history to reach a Pro Bowl

If he were to pan out, and in context “panning out” means making a Pro Bowl in his career then Kwiatkoski would have topped Fortunato for latest linebacker pick in team history to do it. How so? Though Fortunato went in the seventh round, Kwiatkoski technically went later in the draft. He was the 113th overall pick.

Not only has no player made the Pro Bowl for Chicago drafted that late. There also hasn’t been one to start more than four seasons for the team. This is the sort of rare history that Kwiatkoski has a chance to make. Pretty special when one really thinks about it.

Proof Eddie Goldman Is The Most Vital Bears Defender of 2017

By
Erik Lambert
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eddie goldman importance
TAMPA, FL - DECEMBER 27: Eddie Goldman #91 of the Chicago Bears in action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the game at Raymond James Stadium on December 27, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. The Bears defeated the Buccaneers 26-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Pretty much all of the focus from fans and the media will be on the Chicago Bears secondary and pass rush. Specifically the new cornerbacks and safeties and of course the unpredictable health of edge rushers Leonard Floyd and Pernell McPhee. That shouldn’t be a surprise. Most people believe that’s where defensive excellence starts for any team in a pass-first league. That’s fair, but it doesn’t erase the Eddie Goldman importance factor.

The essence of the NFL has always been stop the run first before thinking about the pass. Teams that can’t stop the run are almost inevitably victimized by play action for big plays. It’s why coaches have never backed off the mantra even to this day when quarterbacks are dominating the landscape more than ever.

When it comes to a 3-4 defense, no position is more critical to stopping the run than the nose tackle. They control the middle of the defensive line and are tasked with clogging the interior lanes. Teams that have good ones like Baltimore (Brandon Williams) unsurprisingly had great overall defenses. It’s likely Chicago still doesn’t understand how key Goldman is to the Bears run stoppage.

Eddie Goldman importance reflected in his absence

The Bears finished with the 27th ranked unit against the run in 2016. That’s bad. As it turns out though, they were a different team when Goldman was on the field. He only played six games unfortunately, dealing with multiple injuries. When he did manage to play though, his impact was tangible.

In those six games, the Bears allowed an average of 118.83 yards on 31.5 carries. That comes out to 3.77 yards per carry. Pretty good. When he’s out though? Those numbers ballooned to 123.7 yards on 25.4 carries for an average of 4.87 per carry. Then again if the numbers aren’t enough to prove it, watch the tape.

What makes his impact even more impressive last season was the level of competition. In the six contests he played, the Bears faced three of the 10 best rushing offenses of 2016. That included Houston (8th), Tennessee (3rd) and San Francisco (4th). By contrast eight of the opponents they faced in the other 10 games ranked 20th or worse in rushing including the Giants, Lions and Vikings who were 29th, 30th and 32nd respectively.

Yet that didn’t stop Chicago from falling apart without Goldman on the field. It’s little wonder head coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio are anxious to see him back. They know what he’s capable of doing. Like with his fellow teammates, it all comes down to the big question.

Can he stay healthy?

Reynaldo Lopez Continues Torrid Stretch, Throws Gem As Knights Walk Off

By
Emmet McClain
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Reynaldo Lopez is the no. 6 prospect in the White Sox newly upgraded farm system, but he has a very good chance to be the first one called up. Before the season even began, people were saying how he is probably the most Big-League ready out of all the prospects the team obtained in the offseason. While he had a few rough starts to begin the year, no one has ever doubted his potential. He has the ceiling of a low-end ace or solid no. 2, and the floor of a dynamite reliever.

What’s He Got?

Lopez is a fly-ball pitcher and works with a fastball-curveball combo. His fastball has hit 100 and sits around 96-97. It lacks life however, and can tend to get hit around when it flattens out too much. His curveball generates more swing and misses, as he throws it with power and nasty bite. In Charlotte, he has focused on improving his changeup and control. It is evident that he has taken strides forward in both of those areas, especially as of late. There is no service time or Super-2 barrier that the organization needs to worry about. They have made it known publicly that they are only going to promote their prospects to the White Sox if they are 100% certain they will stay up there for good.

The above video is Lopez at his absolute best. When he can command his fastball like that, he is an absolute joy to watch. It sure does sound like he has gotten better at it down in Triple-A.

A Dominating Stretch

As stated earlier, Lopez is really dominating opposing batters as of late. Today was just another day at the office for him, as he threw 7 innings of 2-hit ball, with 1 ER, 12 K’s, and 2BB. He did not personally get the win, but the Knights ended up wining on a walk-off hit. Lopez has also made quality starts in 5 of his last 7 starts. To qualify for a quality start, a pitcher must go at least 6 full innings with no more than 3 ER given up. Furthermore, in his last 22.2 innings pitched, Lopez has a 1.59 ERA, 28 K’s, and just 3 walks. If there were ever a time to bring up Lopez, it would make sense for it to be now or in the very near future.

Open Spot In The Rotation

With the recent trade of Jose Quintana, there is now an open spot in the rotation. Sure Miguel Gonzalez is back from his stint on the DL, but they could/should DFA either Mike Pelfrey or David Holmberg to make room for Lopez. He is really starting to force Rick Hahn’s hands, which is a great problem to have.

Final Thoughts

I don’t think the White Sox are necessarily waiting for an injury to happen to bring up Lopez. At this point it really is just a matter of time until he makes his White Sox debut. The second half is going to be a really exciting time for the fans. Especially these upcoming weeks with the trade deadline looming. I would honestly be shocked it Lopez is still pitching for the Charlotte Knights in August. Get excited, White Sox fans. Lopez will be on the South Side sooner than later.

 

The Red-Hot Willson Contreras Has Become An Untradeable Asset

By
Sean Sears
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It’s hard to believe that Willson Contreras, a former 3rd base prospect from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, has become on of the best catchers in all of baseball. Contreras was one of the last acquired players by former Cubs GM Jim Hendry, he is currently the longest tenured Cubs player in terms of being in their system, and was essentially flying under the radar until being named the Cubs minor league player of the year in 2015.

It has always been clear the Contreras could hit, a career .283 hitter in the minors, but the question was where the kid would play? He bounced all over the field during his minor league career, playing at first base, second base, third base, left field, and right field, to go along with catching. Contreras’ work ethic is much to thank for his conversion from an infielder to big-league backstop.

Fast-forward to 2017, and Contreras is not only proving he can handle the duties of a full-time catcher, he is absolutely thriving at the MLB level. His value to the Cubs is sky-rocketing, to the point where Contreras is proving he may be the most valuable player on the club not named Anthony Rizzo or Kris Bryant. According to Fangraphs, Contreras trails only the Giants Buster Posey in WAR among catchers, registering a 2.3 WAR so far this season.

Currently, the 25-year-old catcher is slashing .267/.332/.473 with 12 home runs and 45 runs driven in, but Willy has been clobbering so far through the month of July. In his first 10 games in July, Contreras owns an OPS of 1.128 with three home runs and seven RBI thus far. And is he coming off an 8-14 weekend in Baltimore, where came around to score seven times and drive in four. Maybe it has something to do with a slight change in his approach at the plate? Regardless, Willy is freaking raking as of late.

And while he is supplying plenty of power at the plate, what makes Contreras so impressive is his elite defensive ability behind the dish. According to Fangraphs’ DRS and rSB, Contreras has saved eight runs this season so far due to his defense. And fair warning to prospective runners, Contreras will throw at any point during the game, and the odds are likely he will gun you down.

Just like he did to the Pirates three (THREE) times earlier this season.

And he clearly knows how to handle a pitching staff, being that the Cubs handed him the reigns at the beginning of the playoffs last year after only playing roughly four months of pro ball. Contreras is a special player, and while many don’t realize it, he is inserted himself into the Cubs core group.

Anyway you slice it, Contreras is one of the best in every key statistic among catchers. While he can still make improvements on the defensive end, like his framing (currently ranked 52nd catcher in framing according to Baseball Prospectus) and his nine throwing errors on the season are somewhat of a sore spot. But Willson Contreras is already one of the best catchers in baseball, and is well on his way to proving he is one of the most complete players in the entire league.

Sign Petition To Get Bryan Bickell “One More Shift”

By
Marc-Louis Paprzyca
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Forward Bryan Bickell glances off into the crowd following the comeback win against the St. Louis Blues. (Photo: ESPN)

Since Bryan Bickell announced his retirement due to MS, Blackhawks fans have been clamoring to get the good guy “One More Shift.” The Chicago Blackhawks have surely been listening but in case they haven’t, I decided to start a petition.

Bickell is still loved in Chicago and everyone has been rooting for him since his diagnosis. Bicks is a man with a huge heart, who is constantly giving back. He and wife, Amanda, have a foundation to create awareness for pit bulls and working with them to assist formerly abused children. Along with that, he now spends much of his time speaking and making appearances to raise money and create awareness for MS.

It would be great to get the petition going before the Blackhawks Convention this coming weekend. Bickell and family will be in town because their foundation is having a “Paws for a Cause 5K.” Proceeds will benefit a new program providing fully-trained service dogs, free of charge, to individuals living with Multiple Sclerosis.

Here is the link to sign the petition on change.org and I surely hope you do. You will be letting Bickell know how much he means to you and the city as well as create more awareness to his causes.

Bryan Bickell was a member of three Stanley Cup winning Blackhawks teams and never received a proper send off with the organization. Let’s make this happen.

Follow @Pappy_Hour on Twitter for more Blackhawks news and musings. 

Derek Holland Makes His Case For SportsCenter Top 10

By
Emmet McClain
-

Derek Holland and the White Sox couldn’t pick up a win this afternoon, as they fell to the Mariners for the third time in as many games. Avi Garcia continued his incredible season by hitting 2 home runs, but the real highlight came from starting pitcher Derek Holland.

Talk about a web gem. The ball actually ended up breaking one of the laces in Holland’s glove when it got stuck, which led to Holland to throw his whole mitt at Abreu. In another losing effort, this play was one of the better ones we have seen this season.

The White Sox have now lost 7 of their last 10, and now have to face the MLB-leading Dodgers, surging Royals, the defending World Series Champion Cubs, and the defending American League Champion Indians all in a row. The upcoming schedule, paired with more trades on the horizon, should make for a lot more losses in the future.

The White Sox were pretty much a lock to have a top 5 pick in next year’s draft. Now it looks like they’ll have a legitimate chance at turning that into a top 3.

Willson Contreras Reveals The Secret To His Red Hot Second Half Start

By
Gus
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Through the first three games of the second half of the season, it is very clear who the Cubs best hitter has been.

Reigning MVP Kris Bryant?

No.

Team leader in home runs, Anthony Rizzo?

Nope.

Try 25-year-old catcher, Willson Contreras.

The energetic catcher has started the second half of the season on an absolute TORRID pace. In three wins against the Baltimore Orioles, Contreras went 8-14 with one home run, three 2B, and four RBIs. For the month of July, his number are even more impressive — .378/.425/.703 and a staggering OPS of 1.128.

While I love the numbers that follow Willson, it’s the amount of fun that he has while he’s playing that really makes him such an awesome player.

Contreras has done all of his damage from his new spot in the batting order, clean up, which just so happens to follow another great hitter, Anthony Rizzo. Hitting behind Rizzo has historically paid big dividends as we saw last year with Ben Zobrist. In 2016, Zobrist had an OPS of .831 and an OBP of .386 (which was the second highest of his career.) Now it appears Contreras will be the one reaping all the benefits from hitting after Rizzo and if the first three games are any indication of the second half Contreras will have — look out National League.

While some would think it’s Contreras batting clean up after Rizzo that has helped him get off to a red hot start, there may be something else that helped Willson’s offensive production these first three games.

This is the first documented time that the 2017 Cubs have pulled the old “switch-a-roo” that we all remember so well from last season. If you recall, Anthony Rizzo made headlines during the post season when he admitted that he ditched his bats to use a lighter bat of a teammate, Matt Szczur.

A new spot in the batting order, a teammates bat, and an uncanny eye for the ball has cemented Willson Contreras as one of the most dangerous bats in the Cubs lineup. Getting offensive production from him has to be seen as an additional bonus since this is the first full season that he has been the primary catcher of a very solid pitching staff.

Think about the stress Contreras probably goes through. Jon Lester can’t throw to first base, Jake Arrieta’s command is usually all over the place, John Lackey is just a dickhead, Kyle Hendricks hates to talk, and Jose Quintana is brand new to the team. So the fact that he’s putting up outstanding offensive numbers in addition to being held accountable for managing a big league pitching staff is something that has to be applauded.

And if all of that doesn’t make you love him, when he was being interviewed about his big four-hit day, a reporter asked him what he thought about the Cubs offensive outburst the past three games.

Contreras delivered a short message that all Cubs fans (including myself) have been waiting to hear all season.

“I think we’re back. I think we’re back to who we were last year.”

God I hope so.

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