It was never my intention to go so long without posting an update on Cubs Den. For that, I apologize. Like all of the professional sports leagues, I’ve been caught in a wait-and-see limbo and there’s been so much going on elsewhere it was too easy to tell myself one more day won’t hurt.

While I never believed the cancellation of Spring Training and the postponement of the regular season would resolve quickly, I had held out hope we might gain enough clarity that a plan forward for the league would emerge in short order and then we could proceed here at the site with that goal in mind.

As of now though, we still have no insight on what or when the MLB season will be, or if there will even be one. There has been no shortage of topics to write about, and my initial thoughts when I began sheltering at home close to a month ago was that my output on the site would increase. Why not, I’d have more free time on my hands, right?

But as with most people, my routine has been disrupted and daily priorities have been altered. As we got further into this pandemic and I went longer without posting my hesitation solidified as I observed how other sites, and the writers they employ, were being affected.

Since the announcement three weeks ago that the MLB season would be delayed we’ve witnessed a rising death toll, the tanking of the economy, and many of us find ourselves in quarantine for the first time in our lives.

More than 10 million Americans have lost their job. Even if yours remains secure, we all know someone, a friend or family member, who has become unemployed or furloughed or had their salary reduced.

Newsrooms are being hit hard. Freelancers in particular have seen their regular opportunities dry up. In this time of uncertainty, secondary sources of income take on greater importance. Contributors and administrators on other Cubs sites aren’t making much in the best of times, but it is something, and I have not wanted to cause a further downturn in their revenues by drawing eyes away when they need it most.

With no games taking place traffic to websites In the Cubs/sports blogoshere is way down. This affects many, including current and former Cubs Den writers. I have encouraged those on our staff who write elsewhere to send their new ideas to those other sites while the league is shut down.

We do not receive any compensation on this site. That isn’t a complaint. We all contribute here because we want to do it. For John, creating this site and building it up was a passion project, and we’ve all attempted to uphold that as we’ve continued to keep it going in his absence.

Moving forward, it is my intention to begin posting new content on Cubs Den on a limited basis. As I stated, I don’t want to draw away eyes from elsewhere, but I believe that to some extent traffic here can help drive traffic elsewhere. So with that goal in mind, I am setting a personal target for myself to release 1-2 articles per week. These are most likely going to be prospect related (you may have noticed I never did complete my offseason prospect reports and rankings, so now I have an opportunity to play catch up).

Beyond that, I plan to post another article, perhaps on Sundays, with links to interesting work I read throughout the week on other sites. Some will be from major outlets like the Trib, Sun-Times, The Athletic, etc. While others will be from Bleacher Nation, Cubs Insider and other Cubs blogs that are doing great work as well.

Some of the other writers on staff will also be sharing work which you may have missed that they’ve put out elsewhere by re-posting it here. First up this week will be Tom, who did some great work on the Cubs Minor League system for Prospects 1500 this offseason. On Wednesday he’ll post his latest from that site here and I would also encourage you follow the link to the original article in order to help drive traffic to them as well.

Every sports writer, big and small, is facing a tough challenge ahead and I hope you can help me support them.

Thank you, everyone. And stay safe.

P.S. – Despite the time off we have taken over the past month there have not had any discussions of discontinuing Cubs Den. While that day will eventually come, we still have enough interested parties (and loyal readers) to continue on with John’s legacy. I have every intention of ramping the site back to normal speed once the Major Leagues resume play.

I’m also open to suggestions. I haven’t been regularly checking the comment section the past couple of weeks, but I will resume doing so moving forward. Let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks again.