Cubs fans have been seeing a ton of news buzzing around their star third baseman Kris Bryant. Especially when it comes to talking about Baseball’s serves time manipulation problem. Bryant was speaking for all the minor league players with this statement that he said to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic and now lets take a look at Bryant’s statement which is really great I might add.

“It’s awful. So awful. It’s going to happen this year and it happens every year. I could understand it if you go out and have a rough spring training where you don’t look ready. But there’s certain people who put the time and the effort into the offseason so that they do show up to spring training and they prove that they’re ready to go. I feel like you should be rewarded for that.” Bryant added that teams are “finding a loophole in the system.” He laughed about the whole thing, saying, “It’s funny how obvious it can be.”

Bryant is telling baseball fans to get ready to see it happen with the leagues two top prospects and those two guys are Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez. These guys shown they can really play but they won’t get called up for opening day this year.

How many more top prospects will be effect by Baseball’s service time manipulation problem?

Kris Bryant is known for being one of the best players on the Chicago Cubs starting line up. Yesterday when reporters met with Bryant at spring training to ask him questions about all the buzz about getting traded and his expectation for this 2019 season. He then turned around with this response aimed towards his haters which was “I’m motivated. Keep ’em coming. Bring it.'”

I love the answer that Bryant gave the reporters because he is using all of this as motivation to get him through this season. He is not going to let these haters get in his way and he is going to prove them wrong by bouncing back this season. Cubs fans know He missed a huge chunk of the 2018 season due to his shoulder injury and after he got back he wasn’t the same old Bryant.

Cubs fans are in for a great season because Bryant is ditching the two-handed finish and getting back to what got him to an MVP level. When Bryant stepped in to the batters box for his first at bat of the spring he hit a long solo home run. Bryant can’t wait for the season to start to show everyone that he is back to normal.

What dose this season have in store for Kris Bryant?

Cubs fans all know about the high hopes the Cubs had for Right Hander Tyler Chatwood. He was supposed to be a very big addition to the Cubs rotation last season. That’s why the Cubs signed him to a three year contract which was worth $38 million. Now his future with the Cubs at this point is very uncertain coming into the 2019 season.

Great news the Chicago Cubs may have fixed a big mechanical flaw for Chatwood which made games he started in very hard to watch. Chatwood needs to get back to his 2011 – 2017 pitching form. If Chatwood can do that this season then he could be a big boost for the Cubs pitching rotation.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon told the media that Chatwood would be starting the second spring training game which is this Sunday. Chatwood will be taking the mound against the San Fransisco Giants as he looks to get back to his old self.

Hopefully this season is better for Tyler Chatwood than last season.

This entire offseason has been full of rumors of how the Cubs were most likely going to sign Bryce Harper. Cubs fans were loving all the buzz about Bryce Harper being in a Cubs jersey this season. The Cubs tried every which way to say they were trapped financially. Now with spring training under way Tom Ricketts decided to let Cubs fans know that Cubs are completely out spending money.

Cubs fans are very well aware that the Cubs have been getting their hands on some very talented free agents for the past few years. Now lets take a look at why Tom Ricketts and Cubs aren’t spending big money this offseason.

“We’ve put our money back on the field,” Ricketts said. “Unfortunately, you just can’t have a high-profile free agent every single year. Part of that is how much it costs. Whatever the $25-30 million it’s going to cost, plus it’s a 10-year commitment. You have to pay those dollars.”

Will Tom Ricketts’s decision to not sign a big name free agent come back to haunt the Cubs this season?

Cubs fans get ready to see a lot of Pedro Strop coming out of the bullpen to close out games to start the 2019 season. Brandon Morrow has made it clear that he will miss the beginning of the season due to minor elbow surgery he underwent in November. Morrow also missed the last three months of the 2018 season thanks to this injury.

Every time Strop walks out to the mound I say, ‘Pedro Strop powers activate’ then I turn my hat to the left just like him. For Fans who dislike Strop for how he wears his hat off to left you need to let that go. Last season Strop had really stellar numbers when he stepped in for the injured Morrow. Now lets take a look at Strops stats from last season.

The right-hander was stellar for the Cubs last season, converting 13 saves while posting a 2.26 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 8.6 K/9 in 59.2 innings.

Strop dose a lot more for the Cubs than just being called upon to get the final three outs of the ball game. He is the life of the clubhouse from bringing the laughs, playing good music, talking about positive stuff and he even helps his fellow teammates get through their slumps.

How helpful will Pedro Strop be for the Cubs this season?

The Cubs are willing to do everything in their power to give Addison Russell a second chance to play baseball for Chicago. After last season he needs to show major signs of improvement on and off the field this season. Russell’s teammates would love to welcome him back with open arms after he gets better.

Theo Epstein Commenting on How the Cubs Will Handle Russell This Season.

During the first day of the Cubs’ annual Convention reporters met with Theo Epstein who is the Cubs President of baseball operations; Epstein told the reporters:

“We are going to take it one day at a time,” Epstein said Friday on the first day of the Cubs’ annual fan convention. “If he continues to meet the high standards we’ve laid out for him, put the work in, he will be eligible to return to the Cubs after serving his full suspension.”

For Russell to remain a Cub he will need to have a dot your I’s and cross your t’s type of season. As soon as Russell gets off of his suspension all eyes will be on him waiting for him to mess up. Russell will need to prove everyone wrong this season especially the media.

Is Addison Russell time in Chicago running out?

There has been a lot of news buzzing around lately how the League is working on adding the Designated Hitter to the National League. If you are a fan of the traditional rules then you won’t be a fan of this rule change. However, this rule could be very beneficial for the Cubs lineup in long run.

Cubs fans all know that the Cubs have many power hitters that make up their lineup. The biggest problem last season was trying to find a perfect lineup to run out there day in and day out. Now let’s take a look at if the DH were to be added to the Cubs lineup this season.

How the Cubs could lineup with DH against a right-handed pitcher:

1. Ben Zobrist – 2B
2. Kris Bryant – 3B
3. Anthony Rizzo – 1B
4. Javy Baez – SS
5. Kyle Schwarber – DH
6. Willson Contreras – C
7. Ian Happ – LF
8. Jason Heyward – RF
9. Albert Almora Jr. – CF

That would leave Daniel Descalso, David Bote and Victor Caratini on the bench — plenty of depth and versatility for the later innings.

Another way the Cubs could lineup against a right-handed pitcher the very next day with the DH:

1. Ben Zobrist – DH
2. Kris Bryant – 3B
3. Anthony Rizzo – 1B
4. Javy Baez – SS
5. Kyle Schwarber – LF
6. Willson Contreras – C
7. Ian Happ – CF
8. Jason Heyward – RF
9. Daniel Descalso – 2B

What will the DH mean for the Cubs this season?

Cubs fans all know that the 2018 season ended very sadly at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers. Following the season, the Cubs front office staff said that manger Joe Maddon would not be given a contract extension after the 2019 season. Now with the 2019 season right around the corner, the future for Joe Maddon is uncertain.

Once I heard that Maddon was not going to be receiving a contract extension after 2019, I was shocked. I wondered who the Cubs could find to fill the shoes of Maddon. I couldn’t believe that the Cubs were going to move on from the manger who took the Cubs to the last 4 postseasons, and even helped the team go on to win the World Series in 2016.

Then rumors started up that former Cubs catcher David Ross could be the next manger for the Chicago Cubs. Ross would be a great manger for the Cubs because of the veteran presence which will help the young team like it did during 2016.

Who could the next manger be for the Cubs come 2020?

If the Cubs hope to see Bryce Harper in a Cubs Jersey this season, they might have to say farewell to one of their super star players. The player that has been in trade rumors is Jason Heyward. Lately, there has been some news buzzing around that the San Francisco Giants are in trusted in Heyward. If the Cubs move Heyward they will open up space to sign Harper.

Now lets just say this trade with the Giants for Heyward happens, and the Cubs end up signing Harper. Everyone knows the Cubs as a power hitting team, and if they acquire Harper he will add more power. Hands up who has already penciled Harper into the Cubs lineup. Come on, let me see those hands I know have, and putting Harper into the lineup is a very beautiful thing sight to see.

From the Leadoff spot to the number nine spot in the lineup, everyone is protected. For all who don’t know what lineup protection is, it is basically a team having two great hitters batting right after one other.

2B – Ben Zobrist
SS – Javier Baez
RF – Bryce Harper
3B – Kris Bryant
1B – Anthony Rizzo
C – Willson Contreras
LF – Kyle Schwarber
CF – Albert Almora

You are pitching against this lineup who do are you pitch to?

This month the Cubs met at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Chicago for their 34th annual Cubs Convention. For all of those who have never been to the Cubs convention, it is a three day event which starts on Friday night and goes until Sunday morning. The convention gets started with opening ceremonies where fans are introduced to past Cub players and current Cub players, and fans also get a chance to hear from Cubs owner Tom Ricketts about his plans for the season.

After the opening ceremonies come to a close, Cub fans then enjoy Friday Night with Ryan Dempster, a talk show where Ryan Dempster sits down with many Cubs super stars like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and many more. During this year’s convention, Dempster was sitting down with Kris Bryant. While they were talking, Bryant told Dempster that St. Louis is boring and rough, and asked who would like to play there. Little did Bryant know that his comments were going to cause a ton of bad turmoil in St. Louis.

Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was the first player to retaliate to Bryant and Dempster’s comments. He put a post on Instagram where he called Bryant and Dempster both losers. The reason Molina posted that was because he was defending the city of St. Louis. After Yadi made his comment, other Cardinal plays backed him and they also backed the city of St. Louis as well.

I can’t believe Major League Baseball has already issued out warnings before the Cubs and Cardinals even take the field against each other. All I can do is laugh and shake my head at how early the league is getting involved.

Do you think Yadier Molina is acting like a cry baby?