As Two Thousand Fifteen winds down, the holiday weekend was a time of reflection and looking toward the future at Chicago Cubs Online.
Projections for next season were posted as well as one last look at the incredible, award winning seasons put together by Jake Arrieta and Kris Bryant.
The front office has not ruled out making another move and a certain right fielder was in the rumor mill just before the holiday break. The Cubs have signed several players over the last six weeks, and more players joined the organization on minor league deals.
Here are all the headlines from the last four days filled with the news, notes, rumors and videos to get you caught up from the weekend that was …
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 12/24/15
The final installment of the pitching analysis series focused on the young arms in the lower levels of the minor league system. The Cubs have several pitchers that project as top of the rotation starters including Oscar De La Cruz, Dylan Cease, Justin Steele and Carson Sands. The young starters had a good year and are in position to have an even better 2016.
Click on the link to learn about the pitchers in the lower levels.
The Daily CCO: Cubs New Clubhouse on Schedule for Opening Day and Other News and Rumors
Phase Two of the 1060 Project is well underway. And the biggest deliverable for the Cubs this winter is the new clubhouse at Wrigley. Tom Ricketts, Crane Kenney and Jed Hoyer say the new state-of-the-art clubhouse is on schedule.
Click on the link to see a rendering and to read about the input the players had on what should be the best clubhouse in the game.
The Cubs announced three roster moves just before the holiday weekend. Carlos Pimentel signed with another organization and Fernando Cruz re-upped with the Cubs.
Update includes info on Austin Jackson, Alex Gordon, Nate Schierholtz and all of the news, notes and links, plus This Day in Cubs History.
And Adam Wainwright took jabs at Jason Heyward as the Cardinals continue to spend a ton of time and energy focusing on the Cubs.
Cubs Reportedly Unwilling to Trade Jorge Soler
As Christmas approached, Jorge Soler stayed in baseball’s rumor mill. Opposing teams do not think the Cubs will open the season with Jason Heyward in center and Jorge Soler in right. The Cubs are listening on Soler and would have to be blown away to trade him.
The front office also sees the need for more pitching. And while they may not want to trade Soler, to reach the ultimate goal the Cubs see the importance of upgrading the starting staff.
Pitching Staff Projections for the 2016 Chicago Cubs
The Steamer projections are out for 2016 … click on the link to see how the system thinks Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks will perform in Two Thousand and Sixteen.
The Daily CCO: Happy Christmas
Christmas day was rather slow, as always, throughout the game.
The Daily includes updates on Javier Baez, Christian Villanueva and all of the news, notes and links … plus an abbreviated This Day in Cubs History.
Position Player Projections for the 2016 Chicago Cubs
After taking a look at the pitching staff projections for 2016, it was time to shift gears to the position players. And the numbers look pretty good, well at least at the end of December and on the screen.
Click on the link to see how many home runs Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, or Bryzzo, may hit. What about Kyle Schwarber and Addison Russell.
The Biggest Longballs of 2015 from Twelve Cubs
This report is chock full of videos of the biggest or most important homers of the season hit by 12 different players … and there is bonus video because the player that hit the game-winning home run in the NLDS to eliminate the Cardinals, well he gets mentioned twice in the same report.
Full of videos, click on the link to relive some of those magic moments from last summer.
The Daily CCO: Cubs Like Position-Player Depth of Current Roster
Jed Hoyer would not rule out the Cubs making another move this winter. But for now, the Cubs are happy with the roster and the depth, position-player wise, that is currently on the 40-man.
Report includes updates on Dexter Fowler, Kenta Maeda, news, notes, rumors, links and two videos of Starlin Castro … plus This Day in Cubs History.
Jake Arrieta’s Top Five Games of 2015
Jake Arrieta, the 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner, had an excellent season and historic second half. Five of his starts stood out last year … click on the link to find out which five.
Report includes a lot of video of Jake Being Jake in 2015.
Cubs Minor League Signings
The Cubs have signed several players to minor league contracts over the last six weeks. Some you may know about, some you might not. Click on the link to get caught up on the players that will be in big league camp on NRIs this spring.
The Daily CCO: Javier Baez Delivers in Winter Ball and Other Cubs News and Notes
Javier Baez is performing well at the plate in Puerto Rico, just not playing enough in center field.
Report includes video on Lazarito, the newest teen sensation from Cuba, This Day in Cubs History and all of the news, notes and links.
Kris Bryant’s Top Games and Highlights of 2015
The National League Rookie of the Year obviously had a tremendous season for the Cubs. But, what were Kris Bryant’s best games and moments of 2015?
Click on the link to find out, report includes a ton of video.