The days of being wishy-washy and liking both teams in Chicago are over. Or so says the Daily Herald. I guess that means it's time for me to call my sister in Glen Ellyn and start the trash talk again...
Here's the latest from around the web:
From Comcast SportsNet Chicago:
- Could the Cubs have signed Jon Lester without having hired Joe Maddon? Theo Epstein isn't sure, but he's glad he doesn't have to find out.
- Lester will be on the cover of the December 22 issue of Sports Illustrated.
- [VIDEO] How many World Series does Lester want to win as a Cub? More than one, he told the gang at SportsTalk Live.
From Cubs.com:
- Phil Rogers explains how Jon Lester and Jeff Samardzija are the right fits in Chicago at the right time.
From ESPN Chicago:
- [VIDEO] Joe Maddon spoke with Keith Olbermann about his Hazelton Integration project and the Cubs' outlook for the 2015 season.
- Jesse Rogers gives his view on the Cubs' next moves now that the Lester signing is complete.
From CBS Chicago:
- Bruce Levine looks at the signing of Jason Motte, saying that it could be a move that pays big dividends in the 2015 season.
- He also looks at outfielders the Cubs could target after trading Justin Ruggiano to the Mariners, focusing primarily on players familiar with Joe Maddon. Jonny Gomes is obviously mentioned, but another name he brings up: Sam Fuld. One note: Levine says Fuld is a free agent. He's not. Here's the complete list of current free agents this offseason. The Cubs could acquire him by trade, if they were interested. And if Billy Beane were interested in dealing with Theo again, which he probably isn't.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
- In case you weren't able to watch the Maddon/Olbermann video above, David Just gives a quick synopsis of it. One of the questions asked was what Maddon would like for Christmas, and his reply: an old shaggin' wagon.
From the Daily Herald:
- After all of the moves that the Cubs and White Sox have made so far this offseason, Mike Imrem says that it's time for Cubs and Sox fans to start disliking each other again.
From Cubs Den:
- What should be a big part of the Cubs' offseason plan for improvement? The answer is simple: Control the strike zone.
- John Arguello also examines the implications of the Cubs possibly extending their offseason budget.
- And in case you missed it in comments in other stories, the other player to be named later -- this time from the Cubs - Athletics deal -- was named on Tuesday. His name is cash.
From Chicago Cubs Online:
- The Cubs are still listening to offers for Welington Castillo.
- And are the Cubs possibly still interested in Cole Hamels?
From Cubbies Crib:
- Nicholas Blazek looks at what the Cubs could get from the San Francisco Giants in a deal for Luis Valbuena.
- Former Cub lefty reliever Wesley Wright has a new home, signing a one-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles.
From Chicago Cubs 101:
- Tim Duxbury takes a deeper look at what the Cubs could expect to get from new catcher Miguel Montero.
From Cubs Insider:
- Nate Schmidt also looks at Montero, making head-to-head statistical comparisons with Welington Castillo.
- Evan Altman looks at Jason Motte and examines what to expect from a pitcher coming back from Tommy John surgery. There's also an Ocean's Eleven reference in there that gave me a chuckle.
Today's food for thought:
- Oh, how the times have changed: Here's a list of the most commonly used words in pop song titles by decade from the 1890s to the 2010s. Let's take any of the lists from the 1990s and later and try putting them back in the 1940s or earlier and see how that works out.
- When you think of the lock on your door, it's probably not much of anything to actually think about. But there are locks from earlier centuries that were much more ornate.
- And I'd like to express my sympathies to our BCBers in California for this piece. Just how much water does California need to recover from its drought despite all of the rain lately? Only 11 trillion gallons.