When Theo Epstein was hired at the end of October it was hard for the terms "division titles," "National League pennant" and "World Series" to pop into Chicago Cubs fans' heads. If these are your expectations for the Chicago Cubs from now on, you'll have to pump the brakes faster than Chicago rush hour traffic. Those all may come in the future, at least once, and sustained success may be a reality more than a rumor. But with one of the best baseball minds taking control of baseball operations, the Cubs, and Epstein, have come under some unrealistic expectations. With ...
With Opening Day less than a month away, now is the time that storylines are created, rumors are spread and expectations bloom.The expectations for this Chicago Cubs team may be a little more unclear than in years past. There is a sense of optimism that has been absent in previous years, but that seems to be more towards the future than the present.It's tough to tell this early what's real and what is just an illusion in spring, but the Cubs have plenty of questions to address regardless.Here are 10 burning questions as the Cubs make their way through the ...
Entering this season, and most likely carrying on throughout, rumors will continue to swirl about the status of Matt Garza and how he fits into the Chicago Cubs' future. Do the Cubs extend Garza and include him in their future? Or do they build for the future and trade Garza for prospects? I'm sure Garza would bring in a nice haul of prospects, especially if traded at the deadline, but it would be in Theo Epstein's best interest to immediately extend Garza, and here are 10 reasons why.Begin Slideshow
Theo Epstein presented general manager Jed Hoyer, manager Dale Sveum and the rest of his staff throughout the organization, a thick manual explaining how the organization will begin assembling a championship-caliber organization."The Cubs Way."Epstein has already been credited with reversing one curse in his career, and now his focus is on doing the same thing in Chicago.But the way he will go about that is much different than "The Boston Way."Let's get one thing straight: Epstein's situation he's walking into is much different than what he was given to start in Boston. There are no Manny Ramirez's walking into the ...
When the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox couldn't decide the right compensation for Theo Epstein leaving Boston to become the President of Baseball Operations in Chicago, I didn't have a good feeling. That feeling got worse when the decision was to be made by Commissioner Bud Selig. That feeling became a reality when finding out the result. Yes, I'm aware that the Cubs were forced to give the Red Sox the middle reliever Chris Carpenter, not Cy Young award winner Chris Carpenter. But the fact of the matter is the Cubs surrendered too much in this deal. Carpenter is ...
The picture above serves as quite the symbolism of the Cubs last year. There were more empty seats than usual. Fans had empty feelings about the season and direction of the club. The players on the field were mostly empty promises that didn't exactly pan out. But times have changed with the hiring of Theo Epstein and the activity thus far this MLB offseason. One player left on the market that the Cubs have an eye on is Jorge Soler. I'm on record saying that I don't believe the Cubs should sign the Cuban outfielder, but there are positives to ...
Theo Epstein hasn't finished his first offseason in charge of the Chicago Cubs, but that doesn't mean it isn't too early to look towards next year's plans. After all, isn't "next year" what the Cubs are all about? Moves have been made towards next year and beyond already. The Cubs signed David DeJesus, Gerardo Concepcion and Paul Maholm, while also trading away Tyler Colvin and Andrew Cashner in separate deals for Ian Stewart and Anthony Rizzo. The 2013 free-agent class is full of big names that can potentially hit the market. Cole Hamels, Matt Cain, Josh Hamilton, Yadier Molina and ...
The collective idea is that the Chicago Cubs are still multiple years away from competing for championships, and Starlin Castro is the cornerstone of the foundation Theo Epstein is building. While Castro may indeed be the star of the team and Brett Jackson is on hot pursuit of the majors, it's starting pitching Matt Garza who has the most importance in determining how much and when success will come to the franchise starving for a winning culture. Garza, 28, is coming off the best season of his career after posting an ERA of 3.32 while striking out a career-high 197 batters. On ...
With most of the dust settling on the free-agent market, few impact players remain for the taking.
Most of the talk surrounds Roy Oswalt and Cuban outfielders Yoenis Cespedes and Jorge Soler.
But the Cuban that Theo Epstein should have his eye on towards rebuilding the future is 18-year-old pitcher Gerardo Concepcion. Concepcion is officially a free agent after receiving residency in Mexico.
Cespedes makes an immediate impact and Soler is too big of a risk. Concepcion is the perfect mix of potential and affordable that will vastly improve the rebuilding foundation Epstein is putting in place.
After I said Soler isn't worth chasing, one may wonder ...
Jorge Soler's name is brought up by many as the next big thing to come from Cuba.The 19-year-old outfielder is seen as a project that needs developing. But he screams potential, and teams in every sport always seek players who have the word "potential" in their scouting report.Soler sounds like the perfect fit for the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs are in a rebuilding stage themselves, so why wouldn't the team be interested in a 19-year-old project who can be built up with the foundation that Theo Epstein is putting together?Not exactly.While on paper it may be a perfect fit for ...
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