The Cubs’ plans for 2013 took a major hit when it was announced that Matt Garza will be out until May with a strained lat muscle. Not only was Garza counted on to be an integral piece of their early rotation, but he's also important for their future plans. It has been speculated and debated about what Matt Garza’s future holds with the Cubs. However, the majority of Cubs observers believed he would be dealt sometime before the deadline. Disappointingly, those plans have taken a major hit. Matt Garza was predicted by many—myself included—to be the Cubs' No. 2 starter ...
Spring training has been officially underway for a few days and some of you just might not know who those players walking around with numbers such as 70, 67, and 71 stitched to their jerseys are. But as random as their jersey numbers are, the player’s presence at spring training is not. Some of those players are the organization’s best and brightest overall and positional prospects taking part in their first or second big league spring training. While others, yes, are simply trying to earn any sort of contract. The following players lie somewhere in the former. This list is ...
The Cubs future looks bright. In their compilation of Top Prospects for 2013, Baseball America named four Cubs to the list: Javier Baez, #16; Albert Almora, #33; Jorge Soler, #34; Arodys Vizcaino, #83. And, wouldn’t you know it, three of the four received invites to Spring Training; along with Junior Lake and a handful of other prospects. But the four “baby bears” are not expected to break camp on the MLB roster. If forced to wager a bet at which had the best chance, smart money would be on Vizcaino—but even then the odds of that are worse than the ...
They say “hindsight is 20/20.” But what about foresight? Does that score somewhere around 20/1200 on the Snellen chart? The evidence—an article of mine published last September—would suggest to the affirmative. Granted, some of my predictions are correct, or will turn out to be correct, and deserved of a self-congratulatory pat on the back. But, boy, some are outright swings and misses. The September version of the predicted 25-man roster was riddled with terrible selections: Bryan LaHair, Joe Mather, Ryan Dempster, Chris Rusin, and Josh Vitters along with then-predicted free agent acquisitions Humberto Quintero and Geoff Blum, to name a ...
The Cubs are still in the process of retooling their farm system. The organization has some decent prospects at the higher levels of minor league baseball, but most of their best prospects are plying their trade at the lower levels. There are a handful of Cubs minor leaguers that you will see in Mesa, but in all likelihood the more notable prospects—Junior Lake, Jorge Soler, Christian Villanueva, Javier Baez, Arodys Vizcaino—will not make the Opening Day roster. That is, however, not to say that once Spring Training concludes they will return to the teams with which they finished the 2012 ...
The Cubs are still in the process of retooling their farm system. The organization has some decent prospects at the higher levels of minor league baseball, but most of their best prospects are plying their trade at the lower levels. There are a handful of Cubs minor leaguers that you will see in Mesa, but in all likelihood the more notable prospects—Junior Lake, Jorge Soler, Christian Villanueva, Javier Baez, Arodys Vizcaino— will not make the Opening Day roster. However, that is not to say once Spring Training concludes they will return to the teams with which they finished the 2012 ...
In baseball there are many lineup differentiations a manager can invent when any and all variables are given consideration; such as how Wrigley Field will play when the wind is blowing out or in, or whether not a ballpark is known as a hitter’s or pitcher’s park. Perhaps their starting pitcher is prone to throw ground balls, so the manager decides to sacrifice offense for a better defensive infielder; or if the pitcher is a fly ball pitcher, the manager can replace however many regulars with those that have better defense and/or can cover more ground. Or maybe on the ...
When composing this lineup, there were some selections that caused some second-guessing and hesitation before the final decisions were made—not just whom to include, but where to place them in the field for those who played multiple positions. There was some internal debate on where to play Ernie Banks on the Chicago Cubs’ All-Time Team. He played parts of nine seasons at shortstop and 11 at first base, with some time at third base and in the outfield sprinkled in. The team is ordered as the positions are numbered on the field, except for the outfield positions, with a single ...
In an article published last week, I briefly predicted and projected the five pitchers believed to comprise the 2013 Cubs’ Opening Day starting rotation. But I did not do a full comparison between the Opening Day rotations of 2012 and 2013. The article briefly stated that the 2013 Opening Day rotation did not look as formidable as that of 2012's. That proclamation was made based on practice, rather than on theory. For over half of the of 2012 season, the Cubs had a Cy Young contender on their staff to go along with proven veteran, Matt Garza, and up-and-comer, Jeff ...
It might be hard to believe—although it shouldn’t be—but the Cubs’ 2013 Opening Day starting rotation will be worse than in previous years. Last season saw the Cubs begin the season with Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza, Jeff Samardzija, Paul Maholm, and Chris Volstad. That is a fairly formidable first four. But the 2013 Opening Day starting rotation will feature only one holdover from that of 2012. The Chicago Cubs seem hell-bent on trading away Matt Garza. Why else would they give updates in 30-second intervals about his offseason progression? The only reason he is still with the club now is ...
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