While it’s early in the tenure of new Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts and any opinions formed thus far are based on an admittedly small sample size, the only apparent difference between the Chicago Tribune and Ricketts is a face with the name.
That is important, but it’s even more important to have an owner who wants to win the World Series and isn’t afraid to let everyone who works for him know that is the goal for the organization.
A good start toward reaching that goal would be to put in a true baseball man between himself and GM Jim Hendry.
As opposed ...
As regular readers of my stuff know, I am not a backer of Jim Hendry. In fact, I think he is one of the worst GMs in baseball.
Sure, his teams have enjoyed more success than some other Cubs general managers of recent vintage—but I think an increased payroll may have something to do with that.
Plus, it is not exactly a challenging baseline that has been established.
Look at this $140 million team full of bloated, untradeable contracts, and draw your own conclusions.
Plus, Hendry has had an unimpressive run as the club's farm director.
But what is even more of a concern is ...
The Chicago Cubs have announced their final roster decision, with the 38-year-old Kevin Millar being released in what Jim Hendry called a "tough" decision according to a Tweet from Paul Sullivan.
Making the cut as the team’s 25th man is Chad Tracy.
The competition had come down to Micah Hoffpauir, Sam Fuld, Millar, and Tracy.
But with Hoffpauir and Fuld still having options available, the decision really was between the affable Millar and Tracy.
So why was the decision so tough?
Because Millar is a funnier guy than Tracy?
In an effort to impress Lou Piniella and Cubs brass, Millar was touting his ability to play third base and the ...
From the starting rotation to the bullpen, the guys who throw with their arms for a living certainly mean a lot to a ball club.
Sure, offensive run production and run prevention (a.k.a. defense) are critical, too. But as someone once said, pitching is 90 percent of half of the game.
Fuzzy math aside, this just happens to be where the current Cubs appear to fall short, unfortunately.
Question marks in the rotation include, well, just about everyone and the bullpen is comprised of three rookies and a closer who has never held that role for a full season and who struggled ...
The name of the Cubs spring training facility, HoHoKam, literally means "those who vanished". That is appropriate as we embark on a journey of past Cubs spring training stars and "can't miss kids" who did.
The current spring star is Tyler Colvin, who is ranked third in the National League in hitting this spring, at .440. While this is great for the kid, and Paul Sullivan has Colvin making the Cubs' roster, let me remind you of one thing:
Spring statistics mean nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. As predictors for regular season performance, that is.
Let's hope the scouts are wrong and ...
The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan wrote an article about how the Cubs roster may change if they don't win this year. While I usually find Sully's columns to be less than noteworthy, he has hit the nail on the head with this one.
Yes, there seems to be a lot riding on the 2010 season. While new owner Tom Ricketts keeps saying positive things about GM Jim Hendry, you have to think that he at least "nudged" Hendry to bring in Greg Maddux this offseason.
Meanwhile, there are those who think Maddux could eventually replace Hendry as GM.
I think it is a ...
The prevailing wisdom in Major League Baseball is that umpires are best when they are relatively anonymous. The thinking goes that the more transparent he is in a ballgame, especially the home plate umpire, the better he's doing his job.
Well, they seem to take a similar philosophy to life itself.
How many times have you heard about an umpire doing charitable work in the community? Sure, you hear it when an ump blows a call, but the good work many of these men often gets overlooked.
Well, I hope to dispel the notion that umpires simply put in their hour and a ...
There's an old cliche that tells us you can't teach talent.
While that may be true, some players get more out of their talent than others. To date, Carlos Zambrano has always fallen into the underachiever category.
Look, it has never been a question of whether he has the stuff to succeed; rather, it has always been a question of preparation, self-control, and health.
It's not just a matter of statistics, though everyone likes to point out that Big Z has never won 20 games in a season. In fact, it can't be just about stats, for they fail to tell the whole truth.
First of all, if you are still ...
This is not some knee-jerk reaction to what happened in yesterday's 15-3 blowout loss to the Sox. Sure, the right-hander gave up seven hits and six runs in two innings of work, including a pair of home runs.
But Carlos Silva has got to go.
Now this should not be a surprise to anyone who knows anything about baseball. The fact that Silva is a lousy pitcher is one of the biggest "Duh!'s" in history. It is an understatement similar to saying that Tiger Woods likes the ladies.
Look, if that's not Silva's face atop the list of the worst starting pitchers in ...
Cubs fans, we should look at the Cardinals agreement with second baseman Felipe Lopez as an insult. With no sure-fire, proven starter at the position, why wouldn't Cubs GM Jim Hendry at least consider signing this guy?
Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com tweeted that Lopez only got $1 million in base salary with easily obtainable bonuses that could take the deal to $1.2 million.
Look, I'm not saying that Lopez is a great player, or even the best player of this winter's free agent class. Far from it.
But to only have to devote one year and such a minuscule (by today's standards) ...
« Previous Page — Next Page »
