From Hollywood to Ravenswood

The Chicago Bears have agreed to release quarterback Nick Foles, the team confirmed on Saturday night.

The Bears originally acquired Foles two seasons ago in a trade with Jacksonville for a fourth-round pick.

After starting seven games in 2020, the Super Bowl LII MVP only logged one start last season. He carried a $10.67 million cap hit in 2022.

Chicago general manager Ryan Poles confirmed last month that the team had been trying to trade Foles after adding veteran backup Trevor Siemian in free agency.

ESPN’s Courtney Cronin contributed to this story.

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MILWAUKEE — How rough was the first inning of the Cubs’ 9-1 loss to the Brewers on Saturday?

Three Cubs up, three Cubs down swinging — whiff, whiff, whiff — against impressive lefty Eric Lauer in the top of the frame. And that was the encouraging part.

In a painful bottom of the frame, third baseman Patrick Wisdom played leadoff man Andrew McCutchen’s gounder into an error. With one out, center fielder Michael Hermosillo booted a Christian Yelich base hit, allowing runners to move up to second and third on another error. Hunter Renfroe followed with an RBI squibber along the first-base line that Cubs starter Justin Steele was unable to wrangle, more bad luck than anything.

After a Keston Hiura single made it 2-0, Steele thought he was out of the inning with a double-play ball. But a lengthy review — which didn’t appear to start until after the Cubs were completely off the field — determined that Lorenzo Cain had beaten the throw to first. Back out of the dugout and on the mound, Steele gave up an RBI single to Rowdy Tellez.

“It was kind of funny, wasn’t it?” Steele (1-3) said. “It’s just baseball. You’re gonna have them kinds of days.”

These Cubs? Against these Brewers? That was the ballgame right there.

Lauer (2-0) was special, striking out 11 Cubs over seven dominant innings. And the first-place Brewers (15-7) — who have outscored the Cubs 20-2 through two games of this series — look like they could be a special squad.

The Cubs (8-13) have lost nine of their last 11.

Plug and play

For only the second time in 21 games this season, right fielder Seiya Suzuki was in the cleanup spot. For those scoring at home — come on, you know you’re doing it — Suzuki has hit second nine times, fifth six times, sixth three times, fourth twice and seventh once.

Manager David Ross’ wants Suzuki to bat with some traffic on the bases, but it didn’t really work out in this one. He led off the second, flew out with two on and two out in the third, grounded into an inning-ending double play in the sixth and walked with a man on in the ninth.

Twenty-six picks

So, which Cubs players will be directly affected as teams trim their rosters from 28 to 26 on Monday?

“I’m not going to tell you, but you know that,” Rosssaid. “What, tell you and not the players?”

The Cubs made a couple of minor moves ahead of that on Saturday, recalling left-hander Locke St. John from Triple-A Iowa and optioning righty Mark Leiter Jr. to Iowa. St. John’s previous big-league experience came in 2019 with the Rangers, for whom he made seven relief appearances.

This and that

At some point, veteran pitchers Wade Miley and Alec Mills and shortstop Andrelton Simmons might all be on the Cubs’ 26-man roster. It gets harder to picture all the time, though, especially with Simmons lingering in Arizona with a shoulder that just won’t get right.

Simmons did take live batting practice Saturday, with several more days of that in the plans. Miley is with the team and slated for a bullpen session on Sunday, potentially with a rehab start after that. Mills — a Friday rehab start at Iowa having been scuttled because of tightness in his right quadriceps — is on hold.

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The Chicago Bears have agreed to release quarterback Nick Foles, the team confirmed on Saturday night.

The Bears originally acquired Foles two seasons ago in a trade with Jacksonville for a fourth-round pick.

After starting seven games in 2020, the Super Bowl LII MVP only logged one start last season. He carried a $10.67 million cap hit in 2022.

Chicago general manager Ryan Poles confirmed last month that the team had been trying to trade Foles after adding veteran backup Trevor Siemian in free agency.

ESPN’s Courtney Cronin contributed to this story.

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MILWAUKEE — As May arrived one year ago, where in the wide world of sports was Frank Schwindel?

He was in San Jose, California, toiling rather anonymously at the Oakland A’s alternate training site. On May 1, he played in a scrimmage. Five days after that, he was in the lineup for the A’s Triple-A team in Las Vegas. He went 0 for 4 with a couple of strikeouts, in case it matters to anyone now.

“I was just kind of winging it,” he recalled.

Already nearing 29 and in his ninth season of professional baseball, Schwindel, a former 18th-round draft pick, knew better than to count on anything beyond his persistent desire to keep chasing his dream. He’d had the bitter experience of finally making the Royals’ Opening Day roster in 2019, only to be designated for assignment and then released in May of that year. He’d caught on with the Tigers as a minor leaguer, only to have the 2020 minor-league season canceled due to the pandemic.

And soon enough — by June of 2021 — he’d be back in the big leagues, homering in his first at-bat with the A’s. How wildly great did it go from there? Eight games later, he was shipped out again. The Cubs claimed him off waivers in July — and, of course, would have a use for him at Wrigley Field after trading first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

Life comes at you fast, dude.

“Oh, man, it really does,” Schwindel said before a game against the division-leading Brewers at American Family Field. “To be getting called up by the A’s to being sent down and [designated for free agency] the next game or whatever, I mean, that’s not a great moment. And then the Cubs signing me to go to Iowa, and I go there and play terrible — and still get called up and end up playing very well?

“That is a crazy year — but still so much fun.”

Not that the ups and downs have ended. Schwindel has yet to cut loose at the plate in 2022 as he famously — shockingly, uncannily — did over a two-month stint with the Cubs in the second half of last season. He’s essentially in a competition for playing time with rookie Alfonso Rivas, whose own offensive credentials are growing.

Maybe Schwindel’s gaudy numbers with the 2021 Cubs — he hit .325 with 13 homers, 40 RBI and a 1.002 OPS — were a blip, a tease, an anomaly. Maybe “Frank the Tank” will someday be remembered as “Frank the Flash,” as in flash in the pan.

Who could know? Schwindel’s path to first base with the Cubs was utterly unpredictable. His future with the Cubs — and as a big-leaguer — still could go any number of ways.

As the Cubs slide out of a losing April and try to get something better going, they undoubtedly would love to see a return of the out-of-nowhere slugger with “Tank” as a now-and-again nickname — it goes back to his high school days in New Jersey — and “win” right in the middle of his last name.

“The sign of a good hitter, to me, is a guy that can kind of tread water when they don’t feel sexy and don’t feel their best,” manager David Ross said. “His timing may be a little bit off right now, but I still have a lot of confidence in him. That’s for sure.”

Every day up here — in the majors — is at least a pretty good one, Schwindel figures. Especially because he knows better than most what it’s like to be down there. Here, there, nowhere; coming and going, hoping and grinding.

Didn’t he ever think about giving it up?

“No, that has never crossed my mind even for one second,” he said. “I always felt like I was good enough. I’m going to play until somebody takes the jersey off my back.”

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The Bears couldn’t trade Nick Foles, so now they’re releasing him.

About two years after the Bears traded for Foles to compete with Mitch Trubisky for the starting job, they’re cutting him with one year left on his contract.

First-year general manager Ryan Poles moved on quickly after he was hired; in March, he signed Trevor Siemien to be Justin Fields’ backup, saying he was a better fit. Poles said later that month that the Bears were trying to trade the former Super Bowl MVP.

When the draft ended without a deal, Poles was asked Saturday night what his plans were for Foles. He said the Bears planned to “have some conversations and see where we want to go next” with him.

Mere minutes later, word leaked that the Bears were cutting him.

Former Bears GM Ryan Pace sent the Jaguars a fourth-round pick for Foles in March 2020 and re-structured his contract into a three-year deal.

Trubisky began the season as the starter before being replaced in the third quarter of a Week 3 game in Atlanta. Foles rallied the Bears to a 20-point fourth-quarter comeback. Two weeks later, he beat the eventual Super Bowl champion Buccaneers on “Thursday Night Football.”

Foles struggled behind a makeshift offensive line, though, going 2-5 as the starter in 2020. In a press conference during training camp, Foles said he felt better than he did during his Super Bowl season. He made one start last season, beating the Seahawks with Andy Dalton and Fields out.

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April wasn’t fun for the White Sox. It was marked by injuries, sloppy play and a sputtering offense that resulted in an 8-12 record.

The good thing for the Sox is that April is over, and it concluded on a positive note in a 4-0 victory Saturday against the Angels. Now the Sox can move on from a month that was challenging, to say the least.

”That’s what we’ve gotta do; that’s the mindset that we’re trying to encounter is just turning the page,” said right-hander Vince Velasquez, who pitched 5? scoreless innings before being removed after a 61-minute rain delay. ”Even though we take a hard loss, we have some ups and downs, we struggle offensively, defensively, it’s just a matter of staying collected and holding each other accountable and still moving forward.”

Through the first month, the Sox haven’t looked like the team that won 93 games last season and widely was expected to repeat as American League Central champions. But even with the April struggles that featured a stretch of 10 losses in 11 games, their confidence hasn’t seemed to wane. The vibe around the Sox is that they still have the talent and that it’s only a matter of time before the pieces come together.

One example is the offense, which entered Saturday hitting .180/.232/.282 with 32 runs in the last 14 games. Though the Sox went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position, they did get 10 hits, including a solo home run from Tim Anderson and a three-run shot from Luis Robert.

”We’re going to hit, we’re going to hit,” manager Tony La Russa said. ”As long as they keep the attitude that they have now and stay positive and keep working, we’re going to hit.”

Anderson jump-started the Sox in the first, when he led off with a first-pitch homer against Angels starter Jose Suarez. The drive to right was Anderson’s 15th career leadoff homer and second of the season, leaving him five behind all-time Sox leader Ray Durham’s 20.

”It was definitely cool to be able to jump out on them the way we did today and just try to bring the energy that we need, try to get back to where we usually do,” said Anderson, who had his eighth multihit game of the season.

Velasquez didn’t need much else, though he did get support from Robert’s first homer since April 13.

Coming off a poor start April 23 at Minnesota in which he allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings, Velasquez was substantially better Saturday. He struck out six, walked none, got 13 swinging strikes and held Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani to a combined 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

”I felt really good, to be honest with you,” Velasquez said. ”I’m still kind of thinking about how locked in I was. That’s just a glimpse of something I could do on a regular basis if I just keep on working on what I need to do.”

Though Velasquez was talking about himself, he could have been talking about the team. Even after a trying April, the Sox still have five months to get healthy, get better, play the way they expect and set themselves up for more October baseball.

”That’s something that we keep under our cap, knowing that what we’re capable of demonstrating isn’t at our finest yet,” Velasquez said. ”We’ve had some ups and downs, but it’s starting to fall into [place].”

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After meeting late into the night with his staff Friday, Bears general manager Ryan Poles fell asleep in the surprisingly comfortable spare bedroom on the second floor of Halas Hall.

When he woke up a few hours later, he knew he was going to trade back in Saturday’s draft. He just didn’t know how many times.

Poles figured he’d know when to stop– and he did eventually, but only after a flurry of deals that almost tripled the Bears’ number of Day 3 draft picks. Poles woke up with three selections Saturdayand finished with eight. More than a quarter of all the trades made in the NFL on Saturday — four of 15 — were made by the Bears’ first-year general manager.

The Bears had land-line phones ringing and text messages pinging and a sheet of phone numbers with contracts by other teams. In Round 5, their draft room was a cacophony of rings and beeps and buzzes.

“Fast and furious,” area scout Breck Ackley said. “It kinda was a little ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ there for a minute when the trade calls were coming in.”

The scouts on the side of the Bears’ draft room had more nerves than the man in charge, Ackley said. Poles figures it’s what coach Matt Eberflus feels like during a game: calm and focused.

“The energy is good and no one’s panicking,” Poles said. “We’re communicating at a high level with each other. And it worked out perfectly, I thought.”

Former GM Ryan Pace’s career was sunk by bold draft-day moves that failed. Stuck with only five 2021 picks because of Pace’s aggressiveness, Poles proved in his first draft he’s capable of creativity, even on the margins.

He had the roster space to pull it off; only four NFL teams have fewer players under contract than the Bears. He was also playing the math; making more picks increased the chances he’d find a keeper. This year’s draft was deep –players had more experience after taking a free season of eligibility because of the coronavirus.

The Bears won’t be Super Bowl contenders in 2022, so drafting developmental players makes sense for them. The rest of the league saw that.

“I can’t tell you how many times the phone rang,” Poles said. “But it was a lot.”

Poles made the day’s first deal, sending the Chargers their original 2023 sixth-round pick — they’d traded it to the Bears in the Khalil Mack deal — for two 2022 seventh-round picks, No.s 254 and 255.

He moved the Bears’ first pick on Saturday, No. 148 overall in Round 5. To climb up 20 spots, the Bills sent Poles a sixth-rounder, No. 203. The Bears traded Pick 150; the Texans gave the Bears a sixth-rounder, No. 207, to move up 16 spots in Round 5.

Poles then traded a fifth-round pick, No. 166; the Bengals gave the Bears a seventh-rounder, No. 226, to move up eight slots.

Eventually, Poles stopped when the Bears’ draft database, fueled by months of work, showed there wasn’t enough depth to keep dealing.

“It really was based off the number of players in certain ranges,” Poles said. “And then when you felt like the number was getting low it was time to kind of cut it out and start picking players.”

When he did, he landed four offensive linemen (Southern Utah’s Braxton Jones, San Diego State’s Zach Thomas, Illinois’ Doug Kramer and Southern’s Ja’Tyre Carter), Baylor running back Trestan Ebner, Miami (Ohio) edge rusher Dominique Robinson, Cal safety Elijah Hicks and N.C. State punter Trenton Gill.

Saturday morning, Poles asked his scouts to walk in front of the team’s draft board and scribble down three players they were convinced were good picks.

No one knew then they’d have a chance to pick eight.

“We ended up with a majority of them,” he said. “Anytime someone has conviction about something it means something, they’ve spent a lot of time, there’s no waver. That was important.”

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The White Sox finally showed some life.

Tim Anderson led off the game with a solo home run, Luis Robert hit a three-run shot and Vince Velasquez threw 5 2/3 scoreless inningsto give the Sox a 4-0win Saturday over the Angels. The Sox had lost 10 of 11 and scored 32 runs over their prior 14 games, but there were some positive signs against Los Angeles even though they went 2for 12with runners in scoring position.

Velasquez was coming off a poor April 23 start at Minnesota when he allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings. With severe weather bearing down on Guaranteed Rate Field, Velasquez was substantially better Saturday and had the Sox’ longest scoreless start of the year.

Velasquez struck out six, walked none, got 13 swinging strikes and held Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani to a combined 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. Velasquez and Trout were in the middle of an eight-pitch duel with two outs in the sixth before the game was delayed for 61minutes, interrupting an at-bat with a 2-2 count.

When play resumed, Tanner Banks replaced Velasquez and got Trout to ground out.

“I’ve seen potential. He’s made a lot of good pitches,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said of Velasquez. “Victimized a little bit, a few misses. There are times you get away with it, and times you don’t and he hasn’t gotten away with some of them. But he’s got a good mix and strong arm.”

The Sox took a 1-0 lead on the first pitch they saw when Anderson drove a Jose Suarez fastball over the fence in right-center. The drive was Anderson’s 15th career leadoff homer and second this season.

Their issues with hitting with runners in scoring position bit them in the third. Josh Harrison singled with one out and reached third when Angels first baseman Jared Walsh whiffed on a pickoff throw. Harrison was stranded after Robert grounded out to second and AJ Pollock struck out.

The fourth had a similar vibe after Jose Abreu and Yasmani Grandal began the inning with singles. Again, the Sox missed a chance to score when Jake Burger struck out, and Adam Engel and Reese McGuire flew out.

Velasquez had allowed nine straight before a fifth-inning two-out Kurt Suzuki infield single that Anderson couldn’t corral. Tyler Wade followed with a single but Velasquez kept the Angels scoreless when David Fletcher flew out to center.

The fifth inning is when the rain finally arrived. The Sox offense did, too, with Robert hitting his third home run and first since April 13.

“That’s what we talked about all spring, we’ve got a deep lineup,” La Russa said. “Got to stay positive and keep working.”

Los Angeles threatened Kendall Graveman in the eighth, as Wade and Fletcher singled with one out. Taylor Ward popped to short and Graveman got out of the inning when Brandon Marsh struck out looking at a slider that appeared to be outside, leaving Trout on the on-deck circle and the Angels upset at umpire Larry Vanover’s call.

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The Bears doubled down — heck, tripled down — on volume during Saturday’s draft. General manager Ryan Poles made four trades that increased his number of draft picks from three to eight.

The Bears picked 11 players over a two-day span. The Bears, though, still had needs once the draft ended. They began agreeing to deals with undrafted free agents. Here’s who they are:

Offense
RB Master Teague, Ohio State
WR Savon Scarver, Utah State
WR Henry Litwin, Slippery Rock
WR Landon Lenoir, Southern Illinois
TE Jake Tonges, Cal
TE Chase Allen, Iowa State
OL Tristen Taylor, Eastern Washington

Defense
DT Micah Dew-Treadway, Minnesota (Pioneer Press)
LB C.J. Avery, Louisville
LB Jaylen Alexander, Purdue (Journal & Courier)
CB Allie Green, Missouri (NFL Network)
S Jonathan Alexander, Charlotte (Charlotte Observer)
DB Jaylon Jones, Ole Miss
Invited for tryout:
LB Jamal Brooks (Pro Football Network)
LS Antonio Ortiz, TCU
K Matt Coghlin, Michigan State

And here is their full 2022 draft class:

Second round, No. 39: Washington CB Kyler Gordon
Second round, No. 48: Penn State S Jaquan Brisker
Third round, No. 71: Tennessee WR Velus Jones
Fifth round, No. 168: Southern Utah OT Braxton Jones
Fifth round, No. 174: Miami (Ohio) DE Dominique Robinson
Sixth round, No. 186: San Diego State OT Zach Thomas
Sixth round, No. 203: Baylor RB Trestan Ebner
Sixth round, No. 207: Illinois C Doug Kramer
Seventh round, No. 226: Southern G Ja’Tyre Carter
Seventh round, No. 254: Cal FS Elijah Hicks
Seventh round, No. 255: N.C. State P Trenton Gill

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