There was a surprising uptick in non-tenders all around baseball today, and that included a surprise non-tender on the Cubs: Ronald Torreyes.

The Cubs’ other seven arbitration-eligible players (including Addison Russell) received contract tenders for 2019, but Torreyes – whom the Cubs just acquired in trade this week, and whose presence made it all the more understandable that the Cubs would part with Tommy La Stella – was not tendered. Interesting.

Perhaps the Cubs thought they could trade for him and then get him to agree to a contract for 2019 at $X … but then that didn’t happen, so they non-tendered him. Certainly unusual to see. Given the high volume of non-tenders around baseball, it’s also possible that the Cubs saw some other back-up middle infield types that they’d rather go after. I guess it’s also possible they wanted insurance this week in case they were able to trade Addison Russell. Which didn’t happen.

The Cubs could still try to re-sign Torreyes, but he’s a free agent now.

The Cubs tendered contracts to all of their pre-arbitration players, too, with the exceptions of pitchers Allen Webster and Justin Hancock. Hopefully the Cubs already have minor league deals in place with them, because both would be nice arms to keep in a depth position for the bullpen next year.

After the moves, the Cubs’ 40-man roster stands at 36.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Library (CPL) Commissioner Brian Bannon announced that the 2018 Rahm’s Readers Summer Learning Challenge engaged more than 110,000 participants, an increase of five percent from the previous year. Rahm’s Readers completed more than 1.3 million “Discover” and “Create” learning activities and read more than 108 million minutes, a 19 percent increase in engagement from the previous year. The program was designed to prevent the “summer slide” where children can lose up to three months of math and science learning during summer months if they do not remain engaged in learning. Through a strategic partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry, CPL embeds STEAM programming as a vital track of learning in the free Summer Learning Challenge. Program participants are encouraged to engage in various critical thinking, create and design activities to encourage creativity, problem solving and persistence. Rahm’s Readers this summer were Earth Explorers, challenged to read 20 minutes a day, participate in STEAM activities and investigate earth systems science, environmental literacy and climate resiliency. All CPL branches, in partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI), facilitated the summer challenge.

Don’t miss our special LoganSquarist Neighbor Meetup this Wednesday, Oct. 17! Not only will you get to mix and mingle with your Logan Square neighbors, but you will also get to hear from two amazing speakers who spend their time improving people’s lives. Come to Ampersand Cowork (3317 W. Fullerton Ave.) and see why they were voted No. 1 Coworking Space by neighbors in LoganSquarist’s 2018 Best of Logan Square.

At this month’s special edition event, you will learn tips to declutter your living space and keep your home organized from Amy Trager, Certified Professional Organizer. Then, Happy Hour Coach Tim Ressmeyer will cover principles of self-improvement. Registration is encouraged, which you can do here. A limited number of tickets are available to ensure our host venue won’t be overcrowded.

Declutter Your Living Space

Trager is a Certified Professional Organizer based in Chicago. Certified in 2007, she is also a NAPO member and past president of the Chicago chapter. Since 2006, she has been guiding individuals through the stress of their stuff.

Trager’s mission is to guide individuals and companies through the stress caused by excess and misplaced stuff. She’ll walk through how to get organized and create calm and peace in the homes and offices so you have the opportunity to live the life you desire and deserve.

In this fun and interactive workshop led by a professional coach, you will:

✶ Uncover your individual core strengths and the value you deliver in your personal and professional life.
✶ Develop your own personal impact statement that crisply articulates why you do what you do, and motivates yourself and others.
✶ Learn how to apply the impact statement process in different aspects of your life to have even greater success.

Happy Hour Coach

Timothy J. Ressmeyer, Ph.D., is a certified professional coach (CPC) and holds additional certification (PCC) from the International Coach Federation. He is the Founding Partner of Ressmeyer Partners and Happy Hour Coach, which provide life, leadership and executive coaching services globally.

Ressmeyer Partners offers a variety of professional services, from one-on-one coaching to professional group coaching to speeches and workshops.

Ressmeyer brings over 30 years of experience in corporate, academic and nonprofits positions. As a coach, author, workshop leader and speaker, he works with individuals, leadership teams, and organizations to bring about personal and professional excellence. He is frequently quoted in Forbes and was a contributor at WGN radio in Chicago.

Both speakers will be hanging out for a bit after the event. Trager will answer questions one-on-one and Ressmeyer will have copies of his new book, “The Impact of Confidence: 7 Secrets of Success for the Human Side of Leadership,” available for purchase and signing. LoganSquarist will have snacks and wine for folks to enjoy. Join us and your fellow Logan Square neighbors as we hear from two individuals at Ampersand Cowork this Wednesday!

Photos: Courtesy Ampersand Cowork and event speakers.

Register for the event here.

Source: https://logansquarist.com/2018/10/15/october-neighbor-meetup-at-ampersand-cowork/

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Backup quarterback Chase Daniel's ability to step in for Mitchell Trubisky last week and guide the Chicago Bears to victory, without even having one full practice to prepare, came as no surprise to coach Matt Nagy.

“My history with Chase and the relationship that I have with him, he’s always been almost like a little bit of an assistant coach to us as well,” Nagy said on Wednesday.

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Daniel’s devotion to learning the nuances of the Andy Reid offense -- the system Daniel learned in Kansas City and Nagy brought with him the Chicago -- made him the perfect backup quarterback for the Bears to pursue in free agency. Daniel, who before last week hadn’t started an NFL game since 2014, signed a two-year deal that included $7 million in guarantees.

Why give an older quarterback (Daniel turned 32 in October) so much guaranteed money when he’d made only three career regular-season starts over nine professional seasons? Because in a pinch, Daniel proved that smarts often supersede raw talent.

The Bears needed help from their mighty defense to knock off the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, but Daniel played a heady game, completing 27 of 37 passes for 230 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions (106.8 quarterback rating).

And due to the fact the Bears had the shortest turnaround in NFL history following their Week 11 Sunday night game versus Minnesota -- the game in which Trubisky injured his right shoulder late in the fourth quarter on a late hit by Minnesota safety Harrison Smith -- Chicago wasn’t able to hold a real practice, just a couple of short walk-throughs, before the club departed for Detroit.

“You don’t want this situation, but when you’re in a situation where we had last week where you feel very confident,” Nagy said. “We did not have one rep with the guys last week and we didn’t change anything. So now here’s a guy who in his role is fulfilling not only that quote-unquote assistant coach part but a guy that has the ability to step in and make coaches feel very comfortable that you can win games with him at quarterback.”

Saints coach Sean Payton also applauded Daniel’s success on such short notice. Payton coached Daniel for parts of five total seasons in New Orleans, including the quarterback’s first year in the league, when the Saints signed and cut the former Heisman Trophy finalist to and from their practice squad on several occasions.

“Just looking at the film, I didn’t see much of the game, but I thought he played well,” Payton said this week. “He’s someone that can take the reps to the field right away. One of the challenges if you’re not the starter is you don’t get the same amount of reps. But he’s smart, he’s very competitive, and the ball comes out quick. I thought he played well.”

The challenge this week is that Sunday’s opponent, the New York Giants, have fresh tape to scout Daniel.

But Daniel, who appears likely to start another week in place of Trubisky, now has the luxury of taking all the first-team reps during a normal week of practice. Trubisky has been listed as limited at practice, but Nagy said on Thursday that Trubisky still hasn’t thrown since the injury occurred on Nov. 18.

“It’ll be good to actually get some timing down with the receivers and tight ends and running backs, although I thought it was pretty good last week, too, for not really taking a full-speed rep all week,” Daniel said. “There’s always stuff you can grow on. I’m a perfectionist, so what I try to do is look at the negatives of the game and try to improve on it.

“And there were 10 incompletions against the Lions; some of those should’ve been completions. Four sacks; too many, those were all on me. So you just constantly try to be a perfectionist. That’s how I am and I was raised, just try to play the best game possible, and with practice, we can continue to do that.”

Trubisky left no doubt that he feels the offense is in good hands.

“Chase prepares like it's nobody's business,” Trubisky said. “So for him to prepare on a short week, and be thrown in there and come through for this team like he did, we're very proud of him. I'm excited for the opportunity he had. It was huge for this football team. None of us were surprised. He went in there, did his job and did a great job for this team.”

(Copyright ©2018 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.)

I mean, you can say anything is “legit” and it’s not like we have to believe you. But when a reporter of solid repute is willing to put it out there – with that phrasing – hey, I’ll at least listen.

The precise phrasing from the article: “Additionally, there is more than one unidentified team still pursuing Machado. The ‘mystery team’ concept is often mocked for good reason, but we hear reliably that it’s true in this case.”

In other words, there are teams actually in on him other than the White Sox, Phillies, and Yankees.

I’m still not going to tag the Cubs as a mystery team on Machado, because I tend to think their reluctance to commit to a monster contract right now – based on everything we’ve seen and heard – is more likely than they are performing the greatest smokescreen in the history of the rumor era. But, well, it’s not as if there wouldn’t be a fit there if the Cubs were interested.

Martino’s piece also gets into Machado’s plan to accept the highest offer he receives, which makes you wonder about the wide-ranging reports on how much the White Sox have offered (from 7/$175M on the low end to 8/$250M on the high end), and how much it would actually take to be the top bidder.

Even if it’s not the Cubs, I hope some crazy, left field team enters the bidding out of nowhere. That’s fun.