Tom Ricketts is making World Series noises, which ring like endorsing a manager before changing faces. There’s a real spring game tomorrow. Kris Bryant is having a hard time with his chronic pain condition.
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- Marisa Rodriguez (WGN9*): Chicago Cubs to drop life-sized bobbleheads across city on Thursday with a chance to win game tickets. “According to the Cubs, the first 150 people who find a bobblehead or bobblehead box will win a pair of tickets to a regular season game.”
- Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs react to Tony Clark resigning as MLBPA executive director: ‘The strength of the union is in the players’. “With the collective-bargaining agreement expiring Dec. 1, the timing isn’t ideal.”
- Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): ‘We have to win more World Series’: Chicago Cubs’ Tom Ricketts has high expectations for 2026 and beyond. “I mean, it’s about winning. All this other stuff, it all leads to one thing, and that’s about winning. We just have to put the kind of teams on the field that can be in the playoffs every year and get back on top.” More from Sahadev Sharma{$}.
- Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Veteran-laden Cubs could ‘do something really special’ after reaching NLDS in ’25. “They expect to make the playoffs this year and hope there is a World Series trophy at the end of the ride.”
- Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): A look at what three pitchers are working on as the Cubs build rotation depth. “Once a team starts to feel settled, that is usually the moment something goes awry.”
- Randy Holt (North Side Baseball*): Cubs’ bullpen will be better because the Front Office abandoned their usual practices this offseason. “Typically building out a relief corps via waiver claims, reclamation types, and low-risk signings, will the Cubs’ different approach to their bullpen yield anything more in 2026?”
- Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): How USA Baseball shaped Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong long before his first WBC. “… it won’t be the first time he dons Team USA’s stars and stripes. He has been in USA Baseball’s system since 12-and-unders.”
- Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Shaw’s focus on basics — and the right glove size — easing move to OF. “… the Cubs are confident that the 24-year-old Shaw will take to the outfield just fine.“
- Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Could Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki carry postseason momentum through WBC for hot start to 2026? “Suzuki is set to represent Japan in the World Baseball Classic, where he’ll play center field. He leaves Monday to join his national team.” More Suzuki from Forbes* {$}.
- Tommy Birch (Des Moines Register* {$}): Marty Pevey returning for 14th-straight season managing Iowa Cubs. “The winningest and longest tenured manager in Iowa Cubs history will be back in Des Moines this year.”
- Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Kris Bryant talks about his pain, and what comes next. “Some days it’s hard to grab the toothpaste in front of me. It’s not like that every day, but those days it’s like you just wish you had some type of answer.”
Food For Thought:
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