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The Chicago Cubs have reportedly landed star shortstop Dansby Swanson

Cubs fans have been awaiting the signing of a star shortstop. According to Jeff Passan and David Kaplan, the Chicago Cubs have agreed to terms with former Atlanta Brave Dansby Swanson. Swanson has spent his entire 7-year career with the Atlanta Braves. Swanson will spend the next 7 with the Cubs as he has reportedly agreed to a 7-year, $177 million deal.

Swanson’s deal is a seven-year deal worth $177 million and includes a full no-trade clause, sources tell @BallySports and @Stadium. https://t.co/0YOtXfToDq

— Russell Dorsey (@Russ_Dorsey1) December 17, 2022

With Dansby Swanson coming to the Cubs, the team is expected to move Nico Hoerner to second base. With defensive shifts being abolished, the value of an elite defensive second baseman has only gone up. With the addition of Swanson, the Cubs are now expected to have one of the best middle infields in baseball.

The final numbers on a Dansby Swanson-Chicago Cubs deal should be done sometime soon, as @thekapman first said, but the upshot is: The Cubs are going to have a new shortstop and the best defensive middle infield in baseball with Swanson at short and Nico Hoerner moving to second.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 17, 2022

This signing proves to fans that the Chicago Cubs are officially invested in winning. Swanson recently married Mallory Pugh of the Chicago Red Stars. The newlyweds will now make Chicago their home for the foreseeable future.

With the addition of this 1x All-Star, 1x Gold Glover, and 1x World Series Champion, the Cubs are sure to keep adding players via free agency. Look for the Cubs to add a corner infielder as this offseason progresses

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The Cubs promised they’d compete in 2023, and they sent a message backing up that claim on Saturday. They agreed to a seven-year, $177 million contract with All-Star shortstop Dansby Swanson according to multiple reports.

Swanson had plenty of suitors. Free agency opened with four top-tier shortstops on the market. But Swanson became the last man standing, as the other three shortstops signed in the span of eight days, all for at least 11 years and $280 million.

Swanson poised to give the Cubs an offensive boost. He doesn’t have as long of an offensive track record as Carlos Correa, Trea Turner or Xander Bogaerts. But Swanson, 28, had the best season of his career in 2022, showing a high upside just before hitting free agency. He earned his first All-Star selection this past season, won his first Gold Glove, and slashed .277/.329/.447.

The year before, he helped lead the Braves to a World Series title.

Swanson’s defensive prowess makes him an especially good fit for the Cubs. With him at shortstop, homegrown middle infielder Nico Hoerner is expected to move back to second base, where he was a Gold Glove finalist two years ago.

Playing Swanson and Hoerner side by side gives the Cubs a standout duo up the middle as the ban on defensive shifts goes into place for 2023.

“It’s really important to have good defense up the middle,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said earlier this month. “A middle of the infield player, you can’t hide in the shift anymore. So, I think that’s going to expose those guys even more, and it makes athleticism and defense in the middle of the infield that much more important.”

Swanson has ties to Chicago through Red Stars and US Women’s National Team star Mallory Pugh. The pair married last weekend.

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The Chicago Bears added two players to their active roster for Week 15

The Chicago Bears had several pass catchers dealing with injuries this week. The Bears ruled wide receiver, Chase Claypool, out for the Bears’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a knee injury. Tight end Trevon Wesco was ruled out as well. With wide receiver, Darnell Mooney lost for the season due to injury, the Bears needed to add players to the active roster for their game Sunday.

According to a statement by the Bears, wide receiver Nsimba Webster and tight end Jake Tonges have been elevated from the practice squad to the active roster.

Tonges has played in three games for the Bears this season. He played in Weeks 1, 3, and 4. Tonges has no receptions this season but was targeted one time. The undrafted rookie free agent from California is graded 52.5 overall by Pro Football Focus.

Webster has no stats this season. He appeared in six games for the Bears in 2021. I guess this will be a chance for quarterback Justin Fields to see what he can do with no talent against the NFC’s best team.

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MINNEAPOLIS – It starts with the foundation being built on uneven ground.

Then there was the questionable financial decision to spend max money on a three-season porch in a four-season city.

And the underwater treadmill in the exercise room? Necessary, but was it really supposed to get this much use?

So while it was admirable for the foreman to calmly sit there and get peppered with questions about this sudden dumpster fire of a structure, the person that should have been front and center Friday night was the architect.

That’s Accountability 101.

That’s also what Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas all but promised when he was hired.

“My professional philosophy is knowing players, constant communication, roster balance, and deal-making creativity,” Karnisovas said back in 2020 in his first meeting with the media.

“Constant” may have been a stretch, considering he’s communicated with the media maybe a handful of times since then, but the expectation has to be that he’ll talk soon, as this season continued to spiral downward after an embarrassing showing in the Friday loss to the Knicks.

Doesn’t he?

After all, it was Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley that doubled down on what was seemingly a flawed project, opting to take the road of “continuity” and bring back this core roster.

Entering this four-game road trip, the Bulls are one of the more disappointing teams in the NBA right now. One of them has to address the 11-17 start.

“Everything starts and ends with winning,” Eversley said in his opening presser with the media. “For Bulls fans, hear me when I say it: Our ultimate goal is to bring an NBA Championship back to the city of Chicago.”

Cool. Goosebumps.

One problem: Since that day almost two-and-a-half years ago, Eversley has spoken to the media even less than Karnisovas, and that NBA Championship parade that was thrown out there? Let’s just say there’s plenty of good seats still available at Grant Park.

But there was coach Billy Donovan after a third-straight loss, answering questions about the roster build and future trade possibilities as best he could. Questions that were above his pay grade. But someone had to answer them.

“I don’t personally feel that way,” Donovan responded, when asked if running back this same core group was a mistake by the front office. “I think the character in that locker room is really, really good. I just think that with the adversity that happens in the game, we have to collectively have more resolve.”

Then again, what’s the coach supposed to say? Donovan should be applauded for being a stand-up guy and taking the heat, but he’s also not going to take the flamethrower to the only bridge that gets him back home.

He’s publicly warned everyone about this 2022-23 campaign being much harder than last season’s short-lived playoff run, but for some reason those warnings were ignored by far too many.

Starting with his own boss.

It was Karnisovas who back in September, set the bar for a successful season at reaching at least the second round of the playoffs.

If the Bulls keep playing like this, however, they might not even reach a play-in game.

The good news?

There is a lot of time to make repairs. The regular season is not even a third in the books. That means plenty of basketball still to be played.

And if it does continue to crack and break? One of the architects will surely address it soon. They have to, don’t they?

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