There was a time not so long ago when the baseball world only thought it revolved around numbers. Players made an average of slightly less than $500,000 a year. The superstars made somewhere around $2.5 million. These figures were considered untenably exorbitant.
Walks remained a sign of weakness; only the enlightened had even begun to appreciate the value of on-base percentage. Visionaries like Bill James had started asking serious questions about the game and its numbers, but in 1987, the answers were still a long way from clear.
In this world of grit and guts, Andre Dawson was king. Dawson did all ...
In Nov. 2006, Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry signed star outfielder Alfonso Soriano to an eight-year deal worth $136 million.
To that point in his career, Soriano had a career batting line of .280/.325/.510. He had just finished a season in which he made the All-Star team for the fifth consecutive year. Over his first six full seasons of Major League experience, Soriano averaged 155 games played, 34 home runs, and 35 stolen bases. He seemed destined for greatness.
Three years into the deal, it hangs around Hendry's neck like the hopelessly tangled chain of an anchor, pulling the executive under ...
In the off-season between 2008 and 2009, Geovany Soto was riding high. The Chicago Cubs catcher had just won the National League Rookie of the Year award, having socked 23 home runs and posted an .868 OPS in his first full season of Major League work.
Perhaps in retrospect, the young backstop rode a little too high. He came to camp in poor shape, and admitted during the season to a positive test for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic.
Impeded by those distractions, Soto fell into a dizzying sophomore slump in 2009. He hit just .218/.321/.381, and his home-run tally collapsed ...
Throughout history, birds have been symbols.
In the Bible story of Noah and the ark, a dove heralds the first sighting of dry land after the long flood. Even before Edgar Allen Poe forever linked the raven to all things macabre, it stood as a foreboding sign. Eagles represent freedom, doves symbolize peace, hawks typify tenacity, and cranes embody grace.
Unfortunately, a Byrd of a different feather is soon to fly into Chicago's Wrigley Field. Erstwhile Texas Rangers center fielder Marlon Byrd agreed Thursday to a three-year, $15 million contract with the Chicago Cubs. He will fill the team's center field void, ...
I had originally meant to begin this series of articles immediately after the New Year, the better to lend them relevance and immediacy. However, in mapping out the process, I felt it urgent enough to begin now.
I plan to provide, for each projected 2010 Cub and for a few key extra players, profiles with predictive and informative value.
Readers should expect brief reviews of the player's 2009 campaign. These will be followed by explanations of any changes in the player's expected role for 2010. Finally, using the anecdotal and statistical tools at my disposal, I will attempt to project the player's ...
There is an old saying, that two heads are better than one. In baseball, we use a slightly modified variation on that axiom: two bats are better than one.
Platoons have been in use for decades. Famously, Casey Stengel made them a staple of the New York Yankees whom he led to six World Series titles in the 1950s. With the increased specialization of relief pitchers, however, the platoon does not enjoy the prominence it once did in Major League Baseball. This is largely because teams must now carry 11 or 12 pitchers at any given time, limiting the number of ...
Cubs nation, our long national nightmare may at last be over.
After two full fruitless months of maneuvering toward a deal, Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry has found a suitor for disgruntled outfielder Milton Bradley . Bradley is headed to Seattle, in a trade that will net the Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Silva and $6 million in cash.
Silva, who will turn 31 in April, had two consecutive seasons of misery in Seattle. After signing a four-year deal worth nearly $50 million before the 2008 season, Silva posted a putrid 6.81 ERA in just 183 2/3 innings over the first half of ...
Cubs nation, our long national nightmare may at last be over.
After two full fruitless months of maneuvering toward a deal, Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry has found a suitor for disgruntled outfielder Milton Bradley . Bradley is headed to Seattle, in a trade that will net the Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Silva and $6 million in cash.
Silva, who will turn 31 in April, had two consecutive seasons of misery in Seattle. After signing a four-year deal worth nearly $50 million before the 2008 season, Silva posted a putrid 6.81 ERA in just 183 2/3 innings over the first half of ...
For Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry, for Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels, and for free-agent outfielder Marlon Byrd, the last 48 hours have made an interesting, interwoven series of impacts upon the tone and tenor of the MLB offseason.
Lost amid the flurry of Monday's higher-profile deals, free-agent outfielder Mike Cameron agreed to a two-year pact with the Boston Red Sox.
It may have rated as third-string news on a day that saw three of Major League Baseball's top 20 starting pitchers find new homes, but for the Rangers, the Cubs, and their respective fans, Cameron's signing carries major implications. Hendry wanted Cameron badly ...
At the passing of Saturday's deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players, 25 teams chose, instead, to release one or more players. In total, 39 new names landed in the free agent pool.
Except in the cases of really miserable teams like Kansas City, Oakland, and Washington, these players will not be central pieces of any contender.
There are a handful of guys, however, who stand a chance to be solid contributors in part-time roles with good teams.
Among these, two make very good sense for the Chicago Cubs, who can use the pool of non-tendered talent to beef up their currently ...
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