Pitchers and catchers officially began reporting today, meaning the baseball season has officially arrived once again. Spring training is a time where the prospects get a chance to mix it up with established major leaguers and start gaining some very valuable experience. It’s also the best chance for the prospects to start turning some heads and opening some eyes. The Cubs are going to have a couple of position battles this spring, so it will be interesting to see how some of the prospects come into play. Here is a short list of the more exciting Cubs prospects to watch ...
In about a week, some of the Cubs' top prospects will be taking the field and mixing it up with the big league squad with the hopes that when spring training breaks, they will trade in their life of riding buses and staying in motels for flying first-class and staying in five-star hotels.The unfortunate reality is that no matter how well some of those top prospects play during spring training, they will find themselves back in the minors. A ton of development is necessary to prepare a ball player for the rigours of playing in the show.There really is no way to determine ...
Baseball prospects are probably the toughest to gauge when compared to other sports. This is largely due to the fact that in many of the other professional sports, the athletes spend time developing in college before jumping to the pros.These players come into the league and sometimes are thrown directly into the mix. Sometimes they are given a year or two to develop, but there is no minor league system (aside from hockey). Since they spend three to four years in college, it's much easier to predict which young prospects will pan ...
According to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, the Chicago Cubs have come to terms with free-agent outfielder Scott Hairston, pending a physical.
Sources: #Cubs in agreement on two-year deal with free-agent outfielder Scott Hairston, pending physical. — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 24, 2013
This signing definitely solidifies the questionable right field position in Wrigley, a position that will probably be a two-man platoon shared by Nate Schierholtz and Scott Hairston. The odd man out now seems to be Brett Jackson, who seemed determined to break camp with the big league team when spring training ended.It sounds very logical to have Hairston and ...
According to Fangraphs.com, the Chicago Cubs were ranked No. 22 out of 30 minor league baseball systems in 2012. According to those rankings, the organization was deep with regards to right-handed pitchers, yet very thin in the area of catcher and left-handed pitching.Not much has changed heading into 2013, as the team still lacks a left-handed pitcher or catcher in its top 20 prospects. In fact, there probably isn't even one ranked in the top 40 at this point.These two areas may be where the Cubs try to focus on building in the 2013 draft, but it is more than likely that the ...
It's mid-January and spring training is still about a month away from kicking off. Many will argue that it's too early to start predicting lineups.They may be right. We still don't even know if the Cubs are done adding players to the team in free agency.It's also hard to come up with batting orders before we even know who has won those last couple of position battles. However, Cubs management has probably started to kick around potential batting order ideas for 2013, and so should we.Keep in mind that the right field and third base positions will probably boil down to how the players perform ...
The Cubs have made a number of moves this offseason in an attempt to improve their on the field product for 2013. In addition to the free agents added this winter, there are some young prospects that will be looking to prove they should be a part of the Cub’s future plans as well. Spring Training will be a very important time for some of these prospects. The Cubs are not rock-solid in a couple of spots on the field, most notably at third base and in the outfield, so some prospects may see this as an opportunity to break ...
The Chicago Cubs have done a lot this winter in an attempt to improve the on-the-field product for 2013. However, whether all of the free-agent signings lead to on-the-field success has yet to be determined. On paper, the Cubs were one of the most active teams this winter. That’s most likely due to the fact that they lost 101 games in 2012 and had a bunch of holes to fill if they planned on improving that 101-loss season. Looking at the Cubs lineup as we move closer to spring training, not much has changed. The area that received a complete ...
The Chicago Cubs have had a very interesting winter. They were one of the busiest teams with free-agent signings, but, oddly enough, only one of the position players they signed was ranked in the top 100 position player free-agent list according to CBSSports.com. That player was Nate Schierholtz (ranked No. 23).The Cubs did make a couple of big splashes this winter. They were in the running for Anibal Sanchez then ended up signing Edwin Jackson instead. They also signed Japanese closer Kyuji Fujikawa. That was pretty much the extent of the Cubs making a big splash this winter.Even still, those moves may ...
The dawn of another new year is upon us. The start of the new year is traditionally viewed as a new beginning of sorts, and many people like to look at New Year’s Day as a time to wipe the slate clean. Everything that has happened in the past is forgotten, and everyone looks towards a new and brighter future. It is also the time of year when it’s the hardest to find an available treadmill at the local gym, as just about everyone has a resolution to finally get in shape on their list. For baseball teams, the ...
Next Page »
