The Back Row Boys

Back from our hiatus, we update the Cubs roster, our takes on Chapman, LaStella, and the other moves in the National League. We look at where the Cubs are, where we think they'll end up, and analyze the other contenders.

Cubs Midseason Grades and some All Star talk.

Cubs Midseason Grades and some All-Star Game talk.

Our All Star Preview.. Who's in, who's out, who was hosed. Why Addison Russell belongs on the team. Should Jake and Jon even pitch? And more...

Lots of Cubs: the "Brycycle," LL debuts, Baez highlight reel, Arrieta's problem, other roster moves, the 6 man rotation, Mr. Flinch, and some intelligent talk about how to construct a trade and what rumors we've heard. And more...

Cubs and the Fountain of Youth; What's my deal with Chris Coghlan, preview of the Pirates and Cardinals homestand, trade insanity and the value of relievers.

Almora's debut and Soler's injury, an 8-2 homestand with both losses on Jake's starts, historic performances my the SO's, Bryant's brilliance, Wrigleyville cafe, advertising on jerseys, and more...

Recapping the Cubs 2-5 week, Rizzo's slump, Fowler's boner, the Leaderboard, Hometown announcers, floating strike zones, bad lighting, rooting out Umpshow bias, and more...

Why MLB is wrong about IBBs and catering to potential fans instead of the fans they have now. Also, a really good Chip Carey story!

The Fight. The Bat Flip. The week in review. Hometown Discounts. The SABR is over, so SABR hasn't won yet. Roster Moves. Lackey talking smack? And more...

Trading Trout, Beanballs, First Place Weekend, Harper taking walks, Mondesi suspended, Colon, Zobewan, Avisail's message for Markakis, sabre-stupid lineups, bunting, scared baseball, what makes a great catch, and the week ahead.

Adderall and more on PEDs. A look at the standings to see who may be selling already. And why is our TV market such a mess?

White Sox dominating with pitching and defense and culture? Mat Latos turns it around, John Danks doesn't. When do they bring up Fullmer? Catching a big weakness? Adderall and more on PEDs.

No hitters, juicing, two 1st place teams. Hutch breaks down the White Sox stellar start, more Cub Love, and more

Thoughts on the opener of the Cubs/Cards series, not believing the hype, snapshot of where the Cubs and White Soz are today, and more...

Observations from Wrigley on Opening Night, including Reds mismanaging their bullpen, Rizzo gets pranked, we freeze, some suggestions to MLB on scheduling, a snapshot on where the Cubs and White Sox are after one week, and more...

Opening Daze--Mark wins his bracket, Sox and Cubs win their openers. LumberJake, mini meltdown by Chris Coghlan. Jimmy Rollins, Starter. $2 pitches an inning. The Hospital Ward. Instant Replay and the possible future of officiating. Why try to beat the shift? On Pitching--overall, how good is it these days?

Hutch goes ape, accusing me of blind Cubby love. I disagree. He yells for awhile, then I list for him some of the things that worry me about this year's Cubs team.

Hutch conveys his astonishment at the White Sox April schedule (1 off day!), names his breakout player, and his expectaions of the team in general.

We turn our laser beam focus to the National League Central, and ponder the Reds lineup, the Brewers calamity, moves by Pittsburgh and St; Louis, and ascertain exactly where the Cubs will finish in 2016.

We sum up the Adam LaRoche affair and Hutch takes issue with some of the things I wrote in in our last post "Jerry Reinsdorf--You Have a Business Problem." We both agree it will come down to baseball in the end, and that Chris Sale is really, really thin.

We go through the AL Central and try to deduce--through a combination of painstaking analysis and sheer guesswork, how things will turn out for the White Sox this season.

Our takes on some of the pitchers in camp trying to make the big club. (Our take on Rex Brothers is spot on.) Also some words about the value of Sabremetrics, a bit about how options work, and some other factoids, opinions, and analysis.

After a single week of training camp we analyze, characterize, and otherwise describe the likely makeup of the Cubs 2016 pitching staff.

Recorded prior to the Fowler signing and Coghlan trade. Our Cubs/Sox Preview of the infielders, also discussed: What makes a good hitter great? Some lineup permutations. Are veterans undervalued? And the D word--Dynasty

Recorded prior to the Fowler signing and Coghlan trade. Our Cubs/Sox Preview of the infielders, also discussed: Trading SP for Everyday players, Schwarber goes where? And White Sox "give aways"

We introduce ourselves and preview the Outfielders on the 2016 Cubs and White Sox.