According to Will Carroll from Baseball Prospectus, the Cubs will sign free agent Mike Cameron to play center field as soon as Milton Bradley is moved. Carroll tweets that the Bradley deal has been "imminent for 72 hours."
Cameron will turn 37 in January but is still an above average defender, at least according to a UZR/150 of 10.3, despite a weak arm. He should be a huge improvement over Kosuke Fukudome, who can move back to right field.
Offensively, he has power but has a mediocre career .250/.340/.448 slash line. He hit 24 home runs in 2009. Bill James predicts ...
I keep reading and hearing from both Cubs fans and the media alike that Jeff Baker is likely to be the starting second baseman for the Cubs in 2010. If that happens, I think it will be a mistake.
You see, Baker has never done anything outside of Coors Field. It would be a leap of faith by Cubs general manager Jim Hendry to expect Baker to post the same numbers over a full season as he did during his time with the team in 2009.
Similar to the leap of faith exercised by Hendry with Mike Fontenot last year, when he posted that ...
I keep reading and hearing from both Cubs fans and the media alike that Jeff Baker is likely to be the starting second baseman for the Cubs in 2010. If that happens, I think it will be a mistake.
You see, Baker has never done anything outside of Coors Field. It would be a leap of faith by Cubs general manager Jim Hendry to expect Baker to post the same numbers over a full season as he did during his time with the team in 2009.
Similar to the leap of faith exercised by Hendry with Mike Fontenot last year, when he posted that ...
We know all too well that the Cubs are financially constrained this winter. In addition to focusing on moving Milton Bradley, GM Jim Hendry has numerous issues to address on a ball club that seriously underachieved in 2009.
But I'm always here to help my friend Jimbo, so, as usual, here are some moves and/or signings that wouldn't necessarily break the bank, yet may provide some high upside for the Cubbies this winter.
Justin Duchscherer
The right-hander didn't pitch in the majors at all this year — in part because of clinical depression — and is now a free agent.
Duchscherer pitched out ...
According to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat , Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has contacted the Cubs about a possible trade of star pitcher Roy Halladay to the Cubs.
While on the surface it would appear to be a very unlikely scenario, it does at least bear some discussion. If for no other reason than Halladay is one of the best pitchers in baseball. And moving to the National League would only make him better, in all likelihood.
Look, it's a long shot, to be sure. First off, the Cubs probably don't have the payroll room to do this unless Toronto is willing ...
Perhaps there is hope for the writers who vote for the Major League Baseball awards, after all. Then again, it's always one step forward, two steps back with these guys.
One might hope that the preponderance of advanced statistical evidence might educate voters for awards such as Cy Young, MVP, ROY and the Gold Glove.
After all, as younger and (hopefully) more enlightened writers obtain voting rights, the subjective manner of awarding players should improve.
One possible example of this is Zack Greinke winning the Cy Young award today. In the "old" days, many voters used such sad stats as won-loss records as ...
It has been reported that the Detroit Tigers may be willing to trade center fielder Curtis Granderson. I just hope the Cubs aren't interested.
Sure, the Cubs need a center fielder, so they can trade Milton Bradley and move Kosuke Fukudome (who, if it weren't for the money owed to him would be gone by now) to right field, where he is at least adequate defensively.
But let's stop right there, Cubs fans. Granderson isn't an everyday player. He is a guy who can't hit lefties and would be overpriced as a platoon player.
Phil Rogers, who seldom has a lucid thought, has ...
We all know that picking a top ten list of players in any sport must contain some subjectivity. Sure, one could simply use statistics to support their choices, but how do you compare the relative worth of a pitcher versus a hitter, for example?
Players we remember from our childhoods often have special meaning for us, and it can be difficult to block out those emotions when rating players on your favorite team. We may have looked up to these players as heroes at the time.
Well, we are older now and smart enough to understand that you shouldn't use athletes as ...
It seems that Jim Hendry and the Cubs are intent on doing everything within their power to move Milton Bradley this winter. This reminds me of the offseason that Hendry spent trying to trade Sammy Sosa. Eventually, he did, of course, but in the process ignored other Cubs needs.
I don't think that this is so much of a concern this winter because, quite frankly, there isn't a whole lot that Hendry can do. Given all the expensive, long-term contracts that are untradeable, Hendry has basically tied his own hands. Maybe he's a masochist.
Meanwhile, Tom Ricketts told David Kaplan of WGN ...
"It's going to be a big difference between family ownership and corporate ownership. For one thing, as you can tell from talking to us, we all have the same agenda, which may not always be happening inside a corporation. We just want to win. We want to bring a championship back here ." -Tom Ricketts in his first press conference as owner of the Cubs.
Reading this quote made my mind start to wander a bit. What if it’s true? Can family ownership actually take that passion to win, and be accountable to the fans, such that it actually results in what we ...
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