They say what a difference a year makes, but so far with the Cubs, it's looking like 2011 all over again. There is competent management running the team now, yet the relief issues that plagued the club last season are already rearing their ugly head after just two games of the 2012 season.
One can't really make a judgement this early, but while injuries to the starting rotation were one of the things that helped bring the team down in 2011, blowing late leads just took the heart out of the Cubs. You fight for six, seven innings to get a lead and then the bullpen blows ...
According to ESPN.com's Rumor Central feature, the Nationals are entertaining offers for left-handed starting pitcher John Lannan, who reportedly has requested a trade after being optioned to the minor leagues in a surprising transaction. Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that the Cubs have inquired about Lannan, and added that Marlon Byrd could be a candidate to be traded to Washington in return. This move wouldn't be a shock, as Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have made it a point to build rotation depth, knowing how the lack of starting rotation depth in 2011 negatively affected the club. However, while that ...
Every spring there seems to be a player who seemingly comes out of nowhere to grab the attention of enthusiastic Cubs fans longing for a hero. This spring that player may be outfielder Joe Mather, who has made the 25-man roster.
I'm not saying that outfielder Mather can't have a long and productive major league career. I'm just suggesting that it may not be advisable to make a huge emotional investment in him, at least based on the relative value (or lack thereof) of spring training statistics.
Mather is a feel-good story. It was not only Mather’s versatility that won him a job (he ...
The Cubs aren't expected to make the postseason this year, but that doesn't mean that they are simply going through the motions. Every team wants to win, and the Cubs are no exception. While the Theo Epstein plan will take time to materialize, the 2012 Cubs will be playing 162 baseball games like everybody else. Why not try to win more than they lose? That's easier said than done, of course. One look at their one through eight positional starters tells us that power and run scoring could be hard to come by this season. But it's the pitching that likely will ...
Hopefully, new Cubs manager Dale Sveum is holding this spring training bunt contest just to loosen up the guys and lighten up the festivities. Because if he is serious about stressing bunting, we have the wrong manager.
Much has been said and written about this inane contest where everyone tries to out-bunt the other guy, with the winner moving on to the next level, in a kind of March Madness style of bracketology.
You know, it's Kerry Wood, the three seed, going up against, say, Randy Wells, the 12th seed, with the winner advancing to face the next player and so on. On ...
The Chicago Cubs enter 2012 with new leadership and hope for the future. But the expectations for this season is understandably low. While I have written that the team could surprise this season, the rebuilding process will take some time. To change the culture of the organization from top to bottom is a lengthy process that requires everyone buying into the new Theo Epstein manifesto entitled "The Cubs Way". Above all, it requires an infusion of fresh talent. The farm system won't be stocked overnight, and while the coming season could certainly benefit from guys like Matt Garza sticking around, ...
ESPN's Keith Law has named the San Diego Padres' farm system as the best in MLB, thanks in large part to the drafting and trading by Jed Hoyer, who is now the Cubs GM. This is certainly good news for Cubs fans. In fact, it addresses a key failure by the Cubs which, in the opinion of this analyst, is the main reason for the Cubs' long track record of failure. Former GM Jim Hendry may have had a scouting background, but throughout his tenure on the north side, as both scouting director and GM, he failed to bring in star position ...
When Theo Epstein took the job as president of the Cubs baseball operations, he made it clear that he was going to rebuild the team the right way, "the Cubs way." Yet despite the desire to get younger, more cost-controllable players and build from within while not spending big money on free agency, the Cubs just could sneak into contention in the NL Central this season on the basis of two things. First off, the lack of expectations should make for less pressure on a club that had been expected to contend over the past few seasons. Two, division rivals St. Louis ...
The Boston Red Sox's pipe dream of acquiring the Cubs top prospect (Brett Jackson) or a major player such as Matt Garza from the Cubs as compensation is so far off base I don't where to begin.
Yet a recent report has an unnamed AL GM (aren't they always "unnamed sources?) suggesting that Bud Selig will use his magical powers to inflict wrath upon the Cubs organization now that the compensation issue is in his slimy hands.
Hey Bud, isn't a century-plus of losing enough wrath for you?
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe quotes this anonymous GM as saying, "I don’t think ...
The Cubs record of participating in only one arbitration hearing since 1993 (Ryan Theriot, 2010) is in jeopardy. Matt Garza and the Cubs are more than $4.5 million apart and seemingly on their way toward a hearing.For those of you who don't know, the arbitration process works this way: both player and team submit a salary figure for the 2012 season and a panel of arbitrators pick one or the other. There is no in-between. Garza has submitted a figure of $12.5 million, while the Cubs have countered with $7.95 million. Note that Garza earned $5.95 million in 2011.In the meantime, teams usually come ...
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