Cubs Insider

Believe it or not, Saturday Night Live turned 50 this year, and the original cast had me with the controversial word association skit (trigger warning) between Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor. Paul Mooney wrote the skit, which was notable because of Mooney’s hatred for Lorne Michaels and Pryor’s real-life disdain for Chase. The sketch has …

The biggest question about Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki remains where he will sign, but the question of when was at least partially answered on Wednesday. Speaking from MLB headquarters, commissioner Rob Manfred addressed the pitcher’s timeline while also commenting on rumors about a tacit agreement with the Dodgers. “In my media training, they told me …

The Cubs’ path of least resistance to the 2025 postseason is through its bullpen, and Jed Hoyer made two significant moves on Wednesday. The president of baseball operations designated Adbert Alzolay for assignment, then acquired reliever Eli Morgan from the Guardians to strengthen the bullpen. The executive also acquired catcher Matt Thaiss from the Angels while …

Kyle from the Setup Man and Joey “Wrigleyville Bum” Waltz join Danny for a show of thanks…um I mean rants! Plus the Cubs actually make a few moves! For early and ad-free Son Ranto. Subscribe to our Patreon campaign. Subscribe free at any of these fine podcasting establishments: Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Watch us record live on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and …

We are 16 days shy of the Winter Meetings, which probably used to be a lot more fun when deals were done under the influence of tall bourbon pours and cigar smoke in the seedy recesses of a hotel bar. I’m not sure how the following 1977 trade went down, but I like to think …

This is another move that’ll have people complaining for no reason that Jed Hoyer only targets cheap deals, but it’s the kind of addition every team makes plenty of over the winter. Adding well-traveled reliever Phil Bickford on a non-guaranteed minor league contract presents zero risk and gives the Cubs a little more bullpen depth …

The Cubs created a little more roster flexibility on Friday by non-tendering a pair of players, one of whom had hung around a little too long. Choosing to let Mike Tauchman go for nothing isn’t quite on par with their Kyle Schwarber decision four years ago, but it was still somewhat surprising. It may also …

Among the things we know to be true about Jed Hoyer as an executive is that he’s loath to commit big money or multiple years to relievers. Much of that is due to the inherent volatility of bullpen arms, but more may come from the proof of concept he’s established over the last few years. …

The Cubs recently hired former minor league reliever Tyler Zombro away from Tread Athletics to aid the front office in the acquisition and development of pitchers. A statement from Tread said Zombro will be “leveraging his unique skillset to drive value,” which may taste like just another word salad to many of you. So what …

Team USA may have only taken home bronze in the Premier12 tournament, but a strong finish allowed them to end on a high note after losing in the first game of the opening round. The real story of the event was the emergence of Matt Shaw on the international stage. The Cubs’ top-ranked prospect cemented …