The Chicago Cubs took the first concrete steps toward crystallizing their team in 2010 today, trading right-handed pitcher Aaron Heilman and re-signing would-be free agent John Grabow.
Those steps were preliminary, though, and general manager Jim Hendry knows that in order to make more drastic and necessary changes, he must first resolve the single most dauntingly enigmatic question that faces Chicago during this offseason: To whom will Hendry send outfielder Milton Bradley?
USA Today reports that the most likely answer is the same one it might have been this time last year, when Bradley was a free agent being courted ...
Give Jim Hendry credit. He doesn't get them all right, but he doesn't get them all wrong, either.
On the same day that reports out of both major Chicago newspapers said Hendry will ink middling middle-reliever John Grabow to a two-year extension, he redeemed himself from that gaffe (as I saw it ), by trading reliever Aaron Heilman to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
For more on the deal itself, check out the first B/R article to break this news , or the mlb.com story by Carrie Muskat. Instead of duplicating those efforts, I want to take a moment and assess the talent Hendry ...
John Grabow can laugh his way to the bank.
Tyler Colvin, the Cubs' first-round draft pick in 2006, finally reached the Major Leagues as an emergency mid-September call-up this September. When center fielder Sam Fuld injured his wrist on a spectacular catch (okay, instant replay advocates, a spectacular trap), Reed Johnson was not yet ready to come off the disabled list, so the Cubs called upon Colvin, 24, to fill the space down the stretch of a highly disappointing season.
Though he amassed only 20 plate appearances and collected just three hits in six games, Colvin's defense (two stellar catches in the ninth inning during a 7-2 Cubs win in his second ...
As the Cubs look toward 2010, General Manager Jim Hendry has to be pleased with the quartet he has assembled atop his starting rotation.
In Ted Lilly, Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Randy Wells, the Cubs have as deep a four-man staff as any in the National League, albeit not the most talented.
However, unless Hendry and Piniella unexpectedly unveil a plan to return to the four-man rotation , those four leave the Cubs (at best) one card short of a full hand in the preliminary race for the 2010 pennant.
To round out the corps, Hendry will have to either find an ...
Carlos Zambrano recently received his third Silver Slugger award, and second straight, as the best hitting pitcher in the National League. Zambrano actually dropped off considerably in his offensive production in 2009, seeing his OPS drop from .892 to .689.
But that .689 is nearly double the league average pitcher; National League hurlers compiled a miserable .355 OPS in 2009.
Given that Zambrano represents such a remarkable upgrade from a normal pitcher, perhaps he can make a serious impact, even in such obviously limited offensive playing time (he accrued only 72 PA in 2009, and his career high is just 86).
Let's test ...
When Ted Lilly opted for left shoulder surgery on Nov. 3, he may have put his Chicago Cubs in the market for a free agent starter.
One week later, an MLB.com story revealed that John Smoltz, who filed for free agency Nov. 5, hopes to pitch in 2010. For many Cubs fans, the gravity of that revelation should not be overlooked.
Smoltz struggled in a brief stint in the American League last season, but came around under the tutelage of Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan after signing with St. Louis in August. He struck out 40, and issued only nine walks ...
Curtis Granderson, the Detroit Tigers center fielder and 2009 All-Star, may be available in trades, according to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune. If that is true, then Rogers and I agree on a corollary point: the Cubs must have him.
Looking toward 2010, the Cubs have three needs in regard to position players: a center fielder who can offset the defensive struggles of left fielder Alfonso Soriano; a left-handed bat to balance the lineup; and a slugger capable of picking up the slack if Soriano and catcher Geovany Soto fail to rebound from miserable 2009 seasons.
Granderson fits all three prescriptions ...
Nick Johnson is good at baseball.
In 2009, Johnson played 133 games, the first time since 2006 that he had topped the 130 mark. He posted a line of .291/.426/.405, including a ridiculous .279/.477/.413 after a midseason trade from the Washington Nationals to the Florida Marlins.
He walked more times (99) than he struck out (84), the third straight season in which he has done so.
In fact, Johnson has a lucrative and exceptionally valuable pair of abilities: He swings at nothing outside the strike zone (2009 chase rate a bit over 14 percent, or roughly half of the league average), and he makes contact ...
Somewhere in the world, Mark Reynolds is fuming.
The Arizona Diamondbacks slugger missed a spot on the list of Major League players with between two and three years of service time who will qualify for arbitration this off-season by one day.
Instead of Reynolds or Orioles center fielder Adam Jones—both of whom would have made millions after breakout seasons—Cubs second baseman Mike Fontenot will get the privilege of leverage in salary negotiations with his club. He must agree on a figure by mid-December or go before a neutral arbitrator, who would then decide Fontenot's salary.
Fontenot, like fellow second baseman Jeff Baker, stands ...
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