Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This past weekend was a perfect example of what makes Chicago so special:

• Friday: 80°, sunny, crazy overnight storm.
  

• Saturday: decent weather for the dyeing of the river.
  

• Sunday: heavy snow, watched "The Fugitive". You switched the samples!

And tomorrow is Opening Day for the Cubs. Yep, makes perfect sense.​

The Fields trade: One year later.

Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the trade that sent Justin Fields to Pittsburgh and all but guaranteed Caleb Williams' eventual arrival in Chicago.

• The Bears traded Fields to the Steelers in exchange for a 2025 conditional sixth-round pick. The condition? The pick could become a fourth should Fields play 50% of the team's offensive snaps.
  

• Pittsburgh had also agreed to terms with former Seahawks and Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson less than a week before trading for Fields and designated the Super Bowl champion the starter over the summer. However, Wilson was inactive for the first five weeks of the year due to a calf injury.
  

• Fields started the Steelers' first six games, throwing five touchdowns and running in another five. But his ball security issues ultimately cost him his job, despite a 4-2 record. Wilson took the starting role back for Week 7, and Fields only saw 13 more snaps the rest of the year.

So, where does all of that leave us one year later? Well, sorry, Herb Howard, but I think the split will ultimately work out fine for both parties.

There's an interesting argument that Fields would've won more games with last year's Bears team than Caleb Williams, who won just five. I'm not sure I subscribe to that theory.

Williams struggled, his work ethic was (reasonably) questioned, and his film habits were wonky, thanks in part to one of the more dysfunctional coaching staffs we've ever seen in Chicago.

My point is that Williams' rookie campaign was marred by several significant hurdles — including some that were self-inflicted and certainly avoidable — but he still posted franchise rookie records in touchdown passes and passing yards.

This argument about Fields (or even Tyson Bagent) winning more games is supposedly based on experience and Williams' early career mishaps, but it always ignores Fields' own shortcomings just as much as it enhances those of the Bears' No. 1 overall pick last year.

Now, I know you all wanted to spend your Monday morning reading another Justin vs. Caleb debate, but I promise I have just one more quick point, and then we can move on.

That poor-faith argument also tends to ignore circumstances out of the quarterback's control. Justin Fields starting for Chicago doesn't magically make Tyrique Stevenson focus on a Hail Mary, and it doesn't solve Cairo Santos' low kick trajectory against the Packers. Maybe it changes the game situation. Maybe the Bears are out of it long before those plays, anyway.

One year later, just be happy that Fields got paid by the New York Jets. It wasn't going to work out in Chicago. He wasn't set up for success here, but he ultimately never proved himself worthy of the investment. Wrong place, wrong time.

Who is Sean Burke?

White Sox manager Will Venable made the surprise announcement Sunday that Sean Burke will be the opening day starter when the Sox host the Angels at The Rate on March 27.

• Coming into camp, Jonathan Cannon was probably the favorite to get the opening day nod, and as the spring training games unfolded, Davis Martin and Martín Pérez emerged as potential options as well.

• But Burke, who owned a 1.42 ERA in four starts for the Sox last September, was not on most people’s short list.

Venable called the move to open the season with Burke ​a “strategic” one​, which probably means starting with Burke is as much about lining up the other four spots as it is about Burke’s performance (4.15 ERA in 8.2 innings) this spring. Cannon, Martin, and Pérez will take three of the four open spots, and Shane Smith likely has the best chance at the last spot in the rotation.

Burke is a 2021 third-round pick, and he has a floor that is roughly equivalent to Cannon and Martin, so he was going to factor into the rotation this season regardless. On the whole, the Sox starting corps will lean heavily on young arms, so beginning the season with Burke on the bump will be a good preview of things to come.

– Jared Wyllys

Quick Hits

• Notorious menace to society Connor Bedard picked up his second 10-minute misconduct in as many games and was technically ejected from Saturday's loss in Vancouver due to his involvement in a late-game brouhaha. Nothing serious. Certainly not as serious as his ​"all right, buddy"​ comment, which seemingly earned the youngster an "abuse of officials" misconduct on Thursday night.
  

• Yes, Opening Day really is tomorrow. Set your alarms for 5 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday to enjoy this year's Tokyo Series between the Cubs and Dodgers. On the bump, we'll see Shota Imanaga and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Tuesday and Justin Steele and Roki Sasaki on Wednesday. We've got a huge guest on today's CHGO Cubs podcast to chat all things Cubs heading into a pivotal season on the northside. Tune in at 1:30 on YouTube!

Today!

• 📺 CHGO Bears @ 12 p.m. on YouTube

• 📺 CHGO Cubs @ 1:30 on YouTube

• ⚾️ White Sox vs. Giants @ 3:05

• 📺 CHGO White Sox @ 4 on YouTube

• 📺 CHGO Bulls @ 7:30 on YouTube

• 🏀 Bulls @ Jazz @ 8 on CHSN

• 📺 CHGO Bulls POSTGAME on YouTube

Talk to you tomorrow! Sláinte!