With three days left until Christmas, I can finally say that I have all of my shopping done. It's not as bad as a few past years where I was still scrambling around on Christmas Eve trying to get it finished. I guess that means I've honed my procrastination skills a bit better. For now, at least.
Not much new over the past couple of days, but here's the latest from around the web:
From the Chicago Tribune via RedEye Chicago:
- [PDF] The Tribune is doing their 2014 In Review, and the first installment looks at the Cubs' and White Sox' roads to 73-89 records last season.
- Tom Ricketts has begun a venture focused on social impact investing, an investing practice that seeks socially beneficial returns in addition to financial ones.
From Cubs Den:
- John Arguello looks at the Cubs' moves this offseason and says that the Cubs are have gone from rebuilding to re-molding.
- He also discusses how comparisons in baseball can be misused, specifically as they pertain to Arismendy Alcantara and Javier Baez.
- Mike Moody takes a second look at how starting pitchers going deeper into games has an impact on reliever performance, making some tweaks to his original analysis.
From Chicago Cubs Online:
- Reports indicate that both Logan Watkins and Donn Roach have cleared waivers and have been outrighted to Triple-A Iowa.
- CCO takes a look back at the Cubs' Minor League Position Players and Pitchers of the Year from 1990 to 2014.
- Jason McLeod, the Cubs' Senior Vice President of Player and Amateur Scouting, spoke with Bruce Levine and Wayne Randazzo Saturday on The Score 670.
From Cubbies Crib:
- Nicholas Blazek writes that it's okay to believe that 2015 is the year.
- Reports from Fangraphs indicate that the Cubs are likely to exceed their international spending limits again in 2015.
- Jacob Misener looks at five potential landing spots for Welington Castillo.
From Chicago Cubs 101:
- This week's Bold Prediction from Tim Duxbury focuses on six players he believes will never play for the Cubs again.
Today's food for thought:
- Apparently you might be able to change what you taste by listening to different types of music. I'll just stick to paprika; you can't go wrong with that.
- More from space: Here's a video of the Orion crew module during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.