DeMar DeRozan: Sacramento King of the 4th

Good morning Chicago fans! I hope you kept all of your fingers in tact on the 4th of July. The Cubs provided some fireworks at Wrigley, but DeMar DeRozan leaving town was the biggest blast of the week. The winds of change continue to blow through Chicago!

RESULTS

L - Phillies 6, Cubs 4: The best team in baseball (without Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, or JT Realmuto) showed up with authority at Wrigley Field.

• Phillies starter Michael Mercado got the win in his first MLB start

• The Cubs offense had 2 total hits in the first 8 innings of the game before a mini 9th inning rally was capped off by a Seiya Suzuki 3-R HR

• Hayden Wesneski gave up 5 ER in 5 IP and has now given up 10 HRs in his last 13 appearances 😮

L - Phillies 5, Cubs 3: Two early leads quickly slipped away.

• Zack Wheeler (6 IP, 2 ER) and Shōta Imanaga (6 IP, 3 ER) battled in a fun pitching matchup

• Pete Crow-Armstrong drove in the Cubs’ first 2 runs with 2 RBI doubles

• The Phillies broke the 3-3 tie with a 2-run 8th inning against Tyson Miller, but only after PCA barely missed a diving catch and Miguel Amaya allowed a passed ball to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd

W - Cubs 10, Phillies 2: Ian Happ must love America and hate sweeps!

• Happ went 4-for-4 with 2 3-R HRs (from both sides of the plate!!) to lead the offense to their first double digit game since April 16th 🎉

• 8 starters recorded a hit, and the team hit 5-for-12 with RISP

• Jameson Taillon had his 5th straight quality start (7 IP, 2 ER, 7 K)

W - Cubs 5, Angels 1: Finally, a winning streak in front of the home fans!

• Justin Steele pitched his first career complete game! (9 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K)

• The Cubs never looked back from a 2-R HR by Seiya Suzuki in the 1st inning, and 8 starters recorded a hit again!

L - Angels 7, Cubs 0: Everything reverted back to normal as the short winning streak ended.

• Kyle Hendricks pitched with a back spasm and only made it through 2 innings

• Tyler Anderson dominated the Cubs: struck out 10 and only allowed 3 hits in 8 IP

W - Cubs 5, Angels 0: A series win on the right side of a shutout!

• Hayden Wesneski pitched the game of his life (6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)

• Michael Busch hit a 2-R HR and extended his on-base streak to 26 games 💪

WEEK RECORD: 3-3

SEASON RECORD: 42-49 (Last place, 11 GB)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Justin Steele

A 2-hit complete game at Wrigley Field gives Steele the honor!

Steele has been dialed in over the last month and lowered his season ERA to 2.95.

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Miles Mastrobuoni barehanded play at 3B

ROSTER MOVES

Sunday: Placed RHP Colten Brewer on the 60-day IL with a hand fracture after he punched the wall in the dugout, selected RHP Hunter Bigge from AAA

NEWS & NOTES

Shōta Imanaga was named to the All-Star team! ⭐⭐⭐ He will be the lone Cubs representative.

Yency Almonte will have shoulder surgery and miss the remainder of the season

Miguel Amaya was given 3 consecutive days off to try to reset his offensive approach. Amaya started again on Sunday and went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Prospect James Triantos was named Southern League Player of the Month for June!

Prospect Brennen Davis was diagnosed with a back fracture and may miss the remainder of the season 🙏 Prayers for a quick recovery. Davis was raking in AAA this year after dealing with a bunch of injuries the past few seasons.

Prospect Matt Mervis has a possible fracture in his hand

Prospects Matt Shaw, Moises Ballesteros, and Owen Caissie were named to the All-Star Futures Game!

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Training camp is one week away! Rookies report on July 16th!

The Bears are allowing Jonathan Owens to miss time from training camp to attend the Olympics in Paris and support his wife Simone Biles.

TROPHY TRACKER (6/10 ➡ 🏆)

FREE AGENCY

F Tyler Bertuzzi - 4 years, $5.5M/year

F Teuvo Teravainen - 3 years, $5.4M/year

F Pat Maroon - 1 year, $1.3M

F Craig Smith - 1 year, $1M

F Joey Anderson - 2 years, $800K/year (re-signed)

D Alec Martinez - 1 year, $4M

D TJ Brodie - 2 years, $3.75M/year

G Laurent Brossoit - 2 years, $3.3M/year

Kyle Davidson had an unexpectedly hectic day when free agency opened last Monday. Even though I anticipated significant additions to the roster, I didn’t think 7 new players would be headed to Chicago.

The comments we heard from players and coaches at the end of the season must have carried a lot of weight. They were sick of the effort, the losing, and the lack of depth on the roster.

Injuries quickly piled up last season and derailed their goal of improving after a last-place finish in 2022-2023. Davidson clearly wanted to fill as many roster spots as possible heading into next season to make sure the team takes a step.

This feels like a shift in the organizational plan. Instead of just signing a top-line forward, second-line center, and defenseman as reported a few weeks ago, they acquired enough players to allow way more prospects to stay in Rockford for development purposes. They don’t want to force young players into the NHL before they’re ready.

Bertuzzi will most likely play on the top line with Bedard. He’s big, tough, and scores goals in front of the net. He’s a gritty skilled player the Hawks have desperately needed. He scored 21 goals last season and 30 goals in 2021-2022.

Teuvo comes back home after winning the 2015 Stanley Cup with the Hawks. He’s as solid as they come as a two-way forward who can score, kill penalties, and contribute on the forecheck. He should be a mainstay in the Top 6.

Maroon (aka Big Rig) is an enforcer and 3-time Stanley Cup winner.

Martinez and Brodie solidify a leaky defensive core that has seen too many young players pressed into duty. I’m not even sure Kevin Korchinski will see a whole season in the NHL this year, but he’s the D prospect that would most likely remain with the Hawks after all of the additions.

Vlasic/Jones/Martinez/Brodie/Murphy are set in stone for 5 of the defensemen spots.

Brossoit has been very good in a backup role, most recently posting a .927 SV% and 2.00 GAA in 23 games with the Winnipeg Jets. This will give Arvid Soderblom time to regain his confidence in Rockford.

Kyle from Chicago had a great free agency! The Hawks should take a huge jump in the standings next season, and they will be exponentially more fun to watch.

This looks like a page from the Jed Hoyer rebuild playbook, though - pay quality veterans to try to win games with a couple young players while most of the recently acquired/drafted prospects are still in the minors or other leagues. Most of the future Blackhawks core will not be in the pros next season. But I’m all for changing the culture and starting an upward trajectory 📈

Potential Lines & Pairings to start the season:

Bertuzzi - Bedard - Teuvo

Hall - Dickinson - Kurashev

Reichel - Athanasiou - Mikheyev

Foligno - Donato - Smith (Maroon/Anderson)

Vlasic - Jones

Korchinski - Martinez

Brodie - Murphy

NEWS & NOTES

#2 overall pick Artyom Levshunov signed a three-year entry-level contract with a $975K cap hit. The expectation is for Levshunov to play in Rockford this season. Getting him in-house instead of returning to Michigan State for his sophomore season is important for the Blackhawks’ development plan.

Former head coach Joel Quenneville and former front office members Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac were reinstated by the NHL and can pursue job opportunities

After trading for the rights to Sam Lafferty, the Hawks could not agree to a deal. Lafferty signed a 2-year contract with the Buffalo Sabres.

My guy, old friend Colin Blackwell, signed a 1-year contract with the Dallas Stars 😢😢😢

Here’s a cool connection between Kyle from Chicago and returning Blackhawk Teuvo Teravainen:

Unofficial captain Nick Foligno called Tyler Bertuzzi to tell him the Blackhawks were interested. Foligno is on the recruiting trail trying to improve the Hawks!

The 2024-2025 Schedule is here!!

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

FREE AGENCY & TRADES

🚨 Acquired G/F Chris Duarte and 2 2nd round picks from the Sacramento Kings in a 3-team sign-and-trade that sent DeMar DeRozan to the Kings and involved the San Antonio Spurs

• DeMar is signing a 3-year, $76M contract with the Kings. This is significantly less than the previously rumored $30M-$40M/year contract he may have received if he stayed in Chicago. It sounds like those numbers were inflated, but I’m also curious if the Bulls and/or DeMar didn’t want to exchange numbers this week as he sought out other opportunities.

• DeMar was the best player on the Bulls when he was here. He was the King of the 4th, as clutch as anyone, the ultimate teammate, a mental health warrior, and incredible representative for the city. All the best to him as he heads closer to home 👏

• Acquiring any draft capital and a once-promising player in a trade involving a free agent is a win

• I’m interested to see Duarte on the Bulls. He was very good as a rookie in Indiana but has regressed and not received significant playing time in Sacramento.

Signed C Jalen Smith to a 3-year, $27M contract

• Smith tentatively slots in as the backup center and has intriguing traits as another young (24 years old) addition to the Bulls roster

• After struggling with his 3-point shooting, he improved to 42.4% last season with the Pacers

• He hasn’t started many games in his career, but his per 36 minute career averages are impressive: 20.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 1.5 blocks

• Giddey to Smith will be a frequent alley oop connection 🤝

Re-signed RFA C Adama Sanogo to a two-way contract

NEWS & NOTES

Zach LaVine’s agent Rich Paul made public comments to defend his client. Paul wanted to make sure the narrative was set straight about LaVine’s professionalism during his Bulls tenure.

Bulls’ Summer League roster was announced

Now we wait for more roster moves…will they find a trade partner for Zach LaVine? Who will be the starting small forward this season? If they end up shipping out LaVine and/or Nikola Vucevic, will they spend money and/or assets for proven players with the desire to improve the team?

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

Alec Martinez

It’s strange saluting a guy who sent the Blackhawks home in overtime of Game 7 in the 2014 Western Conference Finals.

But Martinez is now a Blackhawk and excited to be in Chicago.

He believes the team can be successful this season, but he also views this stage of his career as a chance to give back to hockey. Helping young defensemen develop is a huge responsibility, and the Blackhawks have a lot of prospects who will lean on veterans.

As a 3-time Stanley Cup champion and veteran 36 year old, Martinez will provide essential leadership in the locker room.

The Cubs are still alive.

This team has appeared dead for a while, but baseball is a strange game.

I’ve seen many Cubs teams turn it around after playing ugly baseball for long stretches of time. It’s a bit easier to say this after they actually won a series this weekend, but they are still sitting at 42-49 on July 8th and aren’t providing many reasons for optimism.

2023 Cubs: 43-50 on July 17th and ended with a winning record

2007 Cubs: 32-39 on June 21st and won the division

2003 Cubs: 53-53 on July 30th and should have been in the World Series

This iteration of the team that we’ve seen since the beginning of May could be exactly who this team is. It’s also possible that we’ve seen the worst of the worst scenarios and they’re due for SOME positive regression.

The IL list has been crowded, the ability to hit with runners in scoring position went from first to worst after April, and their baserunning/fielding fundamentals went down the drain. Any sane person would call the season over.

However, the starting pitching has been very good all season. They are currently 9th in MLB with a 3.73 ERA, and we’ve seen the brutal Hendricks starts mixed in there. Michael Busch (130 wRC+), Ian Happ (128), and Seiya Suzuki (124) are now hitting very well and sparking the offense. At least 4 Gold Glovers start every day, so the defense should turn around.

I did not expect last year’s team to finish with a winning record. The first half was a disaster until Mike Tauchman robbed a home run and the offense decided to score 10+ runs every single day for a couple weeks. It came out of nowhere.

Baseball can be random. Right now, the Cubs’ sum is less than the parts.

One winning streak before the trade deadline can change the entire trajectory of the season. I’m hanging on.

Scott Powers - Kyle Davidson’s prospect development plan (The Athletic)

K.C. Johnson - DeMar DeRozan appreciation (NBC Sports Chicago)

Charlie Roumeliotis - Blackhawks opening night lineup projection (NBC Sports Chicago)

Julia Poe - DeMar DeRozan’s impact on Chicago (Chicago Tribune)

Ben Pope - Sam Rinzel’s development (Chicago Sun-Times)

Thanks for reading! Enjoy a full week of baseball before the All-Star break!

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