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The Chicago Cubs are starting on a new road to success and it all starts in the outfield!Led by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, the new gurus of the front office, the Cubs are dismantling a team of ageing veterans. That group under-performed in the last few years and the franchise needs a fresh start. Nowhere is that more apparent than the outfield, where Marlon Byrd and Kosuke Fukodome made nearly $40 million for mediocre production in 2011.The Cubs are looking to create a young, dynamic offense. To do that they will need strong run production from their future outfield. ...
Sometimes I think many Cubs fans like myself forget that the 2011 season ever really happened. Never fear, I don't believe this to be an outbreak of city-wide mass amnesia (although that idea does sound like a concept that should be pitched in a new Kiefer Sutherland TNT drama). The 2011 season itself was simply the definition of forgettable.Matt Garza pitched admirably in a doomed season. Usually consistent Ryan Dempster was getting blown-up all year long. Young talent Andrew Cashner was held to a single start due to injury. The biggest issue was the rag-tag C-squad that took over the ...
The Chicago Cubs' Opening Day starter will be Ryan Dempster, while Matt Garza will be the second man in the team's rotation.Wait—what?It appears that manager Dale Sveum may have a screw loose in his head, because this rotation call just seems foolish.There is no doubt in anyone's mind that Garza is the top pitcher on the Cubs staff, and Dempster is perhaps only here because of his contract, which left him with the option of staying or going. Last season, Dempster went 10-14 while boasting an ERA of 4.80. Yeah, that is really some ace-quality pitching, don't you think?Garza, on the ...
The Chicago Cubs have decided to send first baseman Anthony Rizzo to Triple-A to start the 2012 season, and that is the right move by Theo Epstein and Co.The Cubs acquired Rizzo from the San Diego Padres this offseason in exchange for pitcher Andrew Cashner, instead of pursuing the likes of Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder.The move was a great play for the club's future, and that is exactly what it is.Rizzo isn't ready to enter the big leagues, and no one should have been expecting him to be the starting first baseman on Opening Day, let alone on the ...
The Chicago Cubs certainly have high expectations for first base prospect Anthony Rizzo.The team's decision to send him to minor league camp on Friday is no indication otherwise. Rizzo is expected to begin the season with Class AAA Iowa. General manager Jed Hoyer traded for Rizzo while he was in charge of the San Diego Padres' roster, getting him as part of the package for Adrian Gonzalez. And team president Theo Epstein was the Boston Red Sox GM when the team drafted the first baseman out of high school in 2007.It was virtually no surprise, then, when the Cubs acquired Rizzo ...
As teams prepare to make their last roster cuts and finalize their 25-man roster, there are numerous prospects on the fringe of breaking camp.However, despite these prospects' impressive performances during spring training and how high of a ceiling they may possess, there's simply no room for them on their team's respective roster. Begin Slideshow
Lefty reliever Will Ohman spent five seasons with the Chicago Cubs, the longest stay of his nine-year major-league career. Though he's gone on to pitch for five other teams since leaving the Cubs, he still has fond memories of his teammates there.In an interview with ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine, Ohman was asked who the funniest man in baseball was. That prompted him to share some stories of epic pranks with former teammate Ryan Dempster. First, here's what Ohman once did to Dempster:I tried to out-think him once and paid the price. I super glued his zipper open on his baseball pants the ...
There are roughly two weeks left before Opening Day as 14 spring games remain before the Cubs take the field against Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals. Strasburg and Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro will highlight the big names when it comes to fantasy baseball. In fact, Castro may be the only Cubs player that fantasy owners across the nation expect much of anything from. More times than not, it isn't the player you draft in the first or second round that determines the success of your fantasy season. Instead, it's the diamond in the rough you find in the late ...
The Chicago Cubs have a new plan for 2012, year one of their rebuilding efforts. Theo Epstein has already made moves to acquire players like Anthony Rizzo and Ian Stewart while getting rid of troubled pitcher Carlos Zambrano. These moves are just the beginning of what will be a busy season for the team as they prepare to turn around the Cubs' losing ways. Here are 15 bold predictions about the Cubs roster moves this season.Begin Slideshow
In a very interesting piece by Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, former Cuban league stud Yoenis Cespedes said that the Cubs offered him a six-year, $36 million deal and that he would have signed with the Cubs had they offered him the same contract that the Oakland A's did.The thought of Cespedes having joined the Cubs is surely interesting. With Gerardo Concepcion in tow, and the Cubs highly considered the front-runners for Jorge Soler, Team Theo would have hit the Cuban trifecta this offseason.Had Cespedes picked the Cubs over Oakland, the effects of the signing would have been huge.First ...
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