At the winter meetings this past week, Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins made clear that the Cubs are focused on working to improve the big-league roster through trades rather than exploring upgrades in free agency. The Cubs can match up well with almost any organization, thanks to a loaded farm system — featuring eight prospects ranked in the top 100 — and depth on the big-league roster that would make them willing to part with a player of, say, Cody Bellinger’s caliber if the financials work out. “I never feel comfortable as you’re negotiating,” Hoyer said speaking broadly of trades. “I don’t think you ever get to a place where you feel like you have a deal. ... I’ve seen so many deals fall apart at the two-yard line. I don’t believe in optimism. “You have to kick the extra point before you feel like that (touchdown) is real.” 1. Cubs are operating with a sense of urgency As tough as it can be to complete a trade, the Cubs are not sitting back to see how things play out before attempting roster upgrades. Some of that is because of how the offseason market, both in trades and free agency, is moving at a quicker pace than last year, but it also stems from the Cubs looking to make moves beyond marginal upgrades. Houston Astros slugger Kyle Tucker is the most obvious improvement the Cubs could acquire in a trade — though it would come with future risk as Tucker is a free agent after 2025 — and they possess the minor- and major-league talent to get a deal done. The Cubs are open to acquiring rental players as they look to jump up from 83 wins in back-to-back years. “In general, you’re always balancing service time and years of control with salary with how talented a player is,” Hoyer said. “I think that’s a constant thing you’re focusing on, that’s always a push and pull. “We have a very balanced, solid team. We’re trying to figure out ways that we can improve if we’re going to improve on our position player group in particular, has to be a notable increase. We’re not just going to move marginally.” 2. Bench will be overhauled The Cubs bench is going to look quite different than this past year. The organization’s decision to nontender outfielder Mike Tauchman and infielder Patrick Wisdom opens up bench spots and creates opportunity for different looks. One will be for a second catcher to pair with Miguel Amaya for a tandem that each gets regular playing time. The Cubs are continuing to work towards a deal with veteran Carson Kelly, sources told the Tribune. “It’s important that we add somebody that has experience,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Look, Miguel showed at times last year. He should be the guy. At other times he showed us he needs a break. I think Miguel is still going to have the opportunity to be a guy that is a regular contributor. But it’s also important for us to have a backup plan. I think we’re going to make sure we have a really good plan for that.” Counsell acknowledged the uncertainty with their bench options and expects that group to look different by opening day, possibly with players who are not yet in the organization. The bench does create a pathway for younger players to get opportunities, find more at-bats and get some experience without needing to thrust those players into an everyday role. The Cubs’ Rule 5 pick will have a chance to be part of that mix. The Cubs selected third baseman Gage Workman from the Tigers’ Double-A team during Thursday’s draft. Workman, 25, spent the past season at Double A where he slashed .280/.366/.476 with 18 home runs, 29 doubles and 89 RBIs. Workman predominately played shortstop and third base in 2024 but can also play second base. As a lefty hitter with defensive flexibility, he’d make an ideal backup infielder if can hit enough to stick. Workman must stay on the big-league team the entire 2025 season for him to stay in the Cubs organization. 3. Cubs coaching staff in place When Counsell was hired last November, rather late into the offseason process, he largely kept the coaching staff intact. Entering Year 2 with Counsell at the helm, the coaching staff will look a little different for 2025. The Cubs hired Quintin Berry as third base coach and Jose Javier as first base coach. Counsell worked with Berry in Milwaukee and understands what Berry will bring, what he’s good at and how he will impact the Cubs. Javier joins the organization from the Yankees. “Javier is a young coach that we did some homework on and found out really good things about him,” Counsell said. “I think he’ll be a good partner for Quintin in our base running.” Casey Jacobson was promoted to take over as assistant pitching coach after Daniel Moskos left to join the Miami Marlins as their lead pitching coach. Jacobson, entering his sixth season with the Cubs organization, spent the previous two years as their minor-league senior coordinator of pitching development. Counsell called Jacobson a logical choice for the job. “It was only a matter of time before we felt that Casey was going to get that opportunity,” Counsell said. Mark Strittmatter is shifting to take over as bullpen coach and A.J. Lewis will be part of his big-league coaching staff as an assistant. Lewis, a Mount Carmel grad, spent the last four years playing in the Rockies system. “Lewis is a really interesting Chicago kid who is just fresh off the playing field but really, for me, piqued my interest kind of what he did off the playing field as much as anything, he had been really accomplished off the playing field in his winters when he wasn’t playing – very accomplished and did a great job,” Counsell said. “We got to know him just about where he’s going in the game. I think he’s a young man with a really bright future in baseball.”
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Pro-Palestine protesters to descend on Caulfield synagogueSocialist dictator of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro on Sunday accused “artificial intelligence” of plotting to oust his regime with the ultimate goal of “taking colonial control of humanity.” Maduro made his wild accusations during his participation at the “World Congress of Anti-Fascist Youth and Students,” an anti-U.S., anti-Israel, and anti-capitalism weekend gathering of international far-left students hosted by the Venezuelan socialist regime in Caracas. Individuals from about 70 countries participated according to the Maduro regime. The far-left event’s participants reportedly announced that they were “carrying out a great struggle against imperialism and fascism in Venezuela,” a country they claimed is “at peace and is working fully for a horizon of prosperity and happiness.” Maduro, during one of the weekend event’s conferences, claimed to his listeners that the Western world has “perfected” artificial intelligence to wage a “cyber-fascist coup” against humanity. “Through two technological tools that the West has perfected. One, first-generation artificial intelligence. They are already talking about going towards artificial superintelligence. And artificial intelligence has been fed for years with the data of every country, of every culture, of every society,” Maduro said. “And today artificial intelligence is leading the cognitive warfare, the cognitive massacre, the military warfare, the economic warfare.” “I’m not exaggerating, guys. It is exactly like that. Through artificial intelligence technological imperialism is trying to impose a cyber-fascist coup on humanity to take colonial control of humanity,” he continued. “I’m not putting one word too many. Maybe I’m putting too little for the sake of synthesis in my intervention.” At another point during the weekend event, Maduro said that he would host a “great world anti-fascist festival” between January 8-10, where he will invite “thousands and thousands of leaders” to join him on January 10, the date he is slated to be sworn into an additional six-year term that he secured through the July 28 sham presidential election. The dictator also expressed his intention to create an “anti-fascist training school” in Caracas, which would integrate “all the training methods” from the regimes of countries such as China, Russia, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Bolivia. The socialist dictator, an aspiring TikTok “ influencer ,” claimed that social media is the “instrument ... they use to implement their actions.” Maduro himself has been an avid user of artificial intelligence tools. Both the dictator and his socialist regime’s media apparatus made public use of them in 2023. Last year, Maduro introduced “ Sira ,” an artificial intelligence companion, in the debut of his ongoing weekly television show With Maduro Plus . The dictator’s show used the artificial assistant – which bore the likeness of a young, curly-haired woman with brown skin – in a segment of the multi-hour show that presented pro-regime news. Weeks before the launch of Maduro’s show, several reports indicated that the Venezuelan socialists were utilizing artificial intelligence to generate “deepfake” news reports in English to push false pro-regime propaganda on social media. According to the reports, the videos were created using Synthesia, a London-based artificial intelligence company. Venezuelan non-government organizations denounced at the time that the contents of the AI-generated false news reports, which reportedly began surfacing around February 2023, were then presented by Venezuelan state-media anchors in public television as if they came from a real outlet to promote a purported “positive” international image of the socialist regime. One of the “deepfake” news anchors featured in the pro-Maduro regime false news bore the likeness of British actor Dan Dewhirst. Dewhirst told the tech outlet DigitalTrends in October that he “couldn’t believe” that his likeness was used in such a way. “My stomach dropped. Everything I was worried about has happened, but a thousand times worse. I’m literally the face of fake news,” he said. The British actor told the outlet that he signed a contract with Synthesia in 2021 for the use of his likeness, but became suspicious of the broad clauses in the contract, so he contacted his agent and Equity. Dewhirst said he and his lawyers unsuccessfully tried to have the terms of the contract changed. According to his statements, the company showed him the stipulations that the likeness could not be used for “illegal or unsavory purposes.” Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here .Texans foiled by mistake after mistake in 32-27 loss to Titans
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McALLEN, Texas (AP) — SpaceX is launching a new mission: making its Starbase site a new Texas city. Billionaire Elon Musk ‘s company on Thursday sent a letter to local officials requesting an election to turn what it calls Starbase — the South Texas site where SpaceX builds and launches its massive Starship rockets — into an incorporated city. Residents of the area known as Starbase submitted the petition, according to the company. The area is on the southern tip of Texas at Boca Chica Beach, near the Mexican border. Earlier this year, Musk announced he was moving the headquarters of SpaceX and his social media company X from California to Texas. “To continue growing the workforce necessary to rapidly develop and manufacture Starship, we need the ability to grow Starbase as a community. That is why we are requesting that Cameron County call an election to enable the incorporation of Starbase as the newest city in the Rio Grande Valley,” Kathryn Lueders, the general manager of Starbase, wrote in a letter to the county. It’s not the first time turning Starbase into its own city has been floated. Musk proposed the idea in 2021 when he wrote a social media post that simply said, “Creating the city of Starbase, Texas.” RELATED COVERAGE Texas Rangers and RHP Nathan Eovaldi finalize $75 million, 3-year contract FCS title game going back to Tennessee after 15th championship in a row in Frisco, Texas Heisman finalist Travis Hunter is AP Big 12 defensive player of year and 1st-team pick as receiver Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr., the county’s top elected official, said despite the talks of incorporation in 2021, this was the first time a petition was officially filed. “Our legal and elections administration will review the petition, see whether or not it complied with all of the statutory requirements and then we’ll go from there,” Treviño said on Thursday. More than 3,400 full-time SpaceX employees and contractors work at the Starbase site, according to a local impact study issued by Trevino earlier this year. SpaceX’s rapid expansion in the region has drawn pushback from some locals. Earlier this year, a group called Save RGV sued the company in July over allegations of environmental violations and dumping polluted water into the nearby bay. SpaceX said in response that a state review found no environmental risks and called the lawsuit “frivolous.”