With the excitement over Kris Bryant being recalled Friday we can discuss the potential lineup Joe Maddon will roll out. The power in the middle of the Cubs lineup was excellent with Rizzo and Soler now enter Kris Bryant. These are fun times to be a Cubs fan. When I posed the question about potential lineups with Bryant I received some good responses. The question is whether he will be eased in or thrown into … Continue reading
Since 2011 when Theo, Jed and Jason were hired the Cubs have been wheeling and dealing. They have been stacking up on talent since then to build a team set for “sustained success.” As the Cubs, it seems, have turned the corner lets take a look at the front offices best moves and worst moves based on the value they have for the Cubs. Along with the Cubs I looked at the Astros who went … Continue reading
When I was 9 years old, there was a lot of optimism surrounding that year and the future of the Cubs. It reminds me a little bit of what I am now feeling as a soon to be 55 year old. Wow, that is a lot of years! However, that is one of the things I like most about baseball and the Cubs. With any sliver of hope, I can look at the coming season … Continue reading
I have always found it odd the affection Cubs fans have had for certain players. We have seen the social media explosion when players like Tony Campana were traded away. Also, when David Dejesus came back to Wrigley Field after being traded in 2013 he received a standing ovation from the Wrigley faithful. Although he had a pretty good run with the Cubs he only played for them for a little over a year. Other … Continue reading
Two years ago the Cubs were doing what they have done best lately, having a fire sale near the deadline after another rough first half. One of the pieces they had was Ryan Dempster who was having an extremely good season as the Cubs ace (2.25ERA). Theo & Co. doing what they do best were ready to maximize that value and send Dempster off for some long-term assets. What was holding a lot of this … Continue reading
Best Case Scenario I’ve been fairly vocal in my displeasure with Darwin Barney over the past few years, but I really don’t think Barney is a value-less player. Deployed properly, he could be one of the better utility infielders/platoon second basemen in all of baseball, and the best case scenario for the 2014 Cubs is that he becomes that player. Against left handed pitching, Darwin Barney is a career .263/.313/.381 hitter. That’s not going to … Continue reading
After looking at the first basemen of the NL Central, who have collectively fallen off since the glory days of Pujols/Votto/Berkman/Lee, we’re now going to look at a position that, honestly, we can never remember being the division’s strong point. Historically this has been such a weak position within the division that Cubs fans, unaccustomed to seeing good non-Biggios playing the keystone, thought Mike Fontenot was worthy of the nickname “Little Babe Rute”*. Since 2000, … Continue reading
Best Case Scenario – Anthony Rizzo Meets Reasonable Expectations, Hits 30 HR The hype train was very high when Rizzo hit 15HRs and batted .285/.342/.463 in his first action in a Cub uniform. That hype has gone down because of the season he had last year, when he only put up a .742 OPS. He seemed to be over thinking at the plate and there is reason to believe Rizzo will have a bounce back … Continue reading
The quality of first basemen in the NL Central has fallen quite a bit since the days when Pujols and Fielder would terrorize the Midwest all summer long. The first base situation is unclear in two cities and questionable in two more, leaving Joey Votto as the lone superstar at the position. A couple of good seasons in Chicago and St. Louis could change the story, but for now the NL Central is home to … Continue reading
Coming off of a season in which their catching corps produced the fourth-most wins according to FanGraphs, the Cubs are returning Welington Castillo and hoping he can take over the full-time catching role for good. They also traded for George Kottaras, who should be a capable backup. This has the potential to be a very strong position for the Cubs, but there’s also plenty of reasons to be worried. Best Case Scenario – Castillo develops … Continue reading
