Tag Archives: Chicago Cubs

Jon Lester signs with Cubs, Fans Fear How This Will End

I’m a life-long fan of the Chicago Cubs. I’ve been through it all. I was born in 1980 and one of my earliest baseball memories was the Cubs’ 1984 playoff collapse. I dealt with numerous inept managers, a handful of ‘this is our year’ years and the whole Steve Bartman ordeal. The Cubs now have a stockpile of blue-chip prospects, but nearly all are position players. Chicago needs quality pitching and they just signed the biggest name this offseason.

Jon Lester, formerly of Boston and Oakland, signed a six-year $155 million dollar deal (with an option for a seventh year).

Theo Epstein and recently-named assistant Ryan Dempster both have a relationship with Lester. It gave them a much-needed edge.

I breakdown this signing and a few other ramblings about the upcoming Chicago Cubs season. Also, gaze upon my awesomely horrible MS Paint skills.

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MLB: Should You Buy Into September Stats?

After the September roster expansion, MLB teams become diluted. You no longer have the best of the best facing against each other. Young players are brought up to get seasoning and Four-A players are also given time so teams can rest their stars (especially if a team is out of the playoff race).

If you play fantasy baseball, you’re always looking for an edge. Some of these players are going to look great, because they are facing sub-standard pitching/hitting every couple days.

I will show you some examples and explain to you why I am either buying or selling their stats so far in September.

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Which Top MLB Prospects Will Be Called Up This Season?

The All-Star Game is over and pennant races are heating up (for many teams). On the other side of the coin, there are a handful of teams that are playing for next season and beyond. Those teams usually have a stockpile of prospects on the verge of making their MLB debuts.

This post features the game’s top prospects and their estimated time of arrival.

Kris Bryant, Byron Buxton, Javier Baez and others have their team’s fans drooling. Fans are usually impatient when it comes to prospects…especially if their team is near the bottom of the standings.

Which top prospects are expected to be called up this season? Which prospects will need a little more seasoning in the Minors?

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Cubs trade Samardzija & Hammel to Oakland for Prospects

The Chicago Cubs FINALLY made the trade fans knew was coming for a long time.

Cubs’ fans assumed it would take two separate deals to trade both Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, but they found their trade partner in the Oakland A’s.

The Cubs need young pitching, so you would expect the deal would surround some young arms. Right? Not exactly.

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Chicago Cubs: Trade Candidates

We are a quarter into the 2014 MLB season and the Chicago Cubs are already playing for the 2016 season (yes, not even 2015).

Their farm system is deep, but lacks pitching. They have bats for days (Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Jorge Soler) and have used their high draft picks on position players. I assume they will draft a starting pitcher with the #4 overall pick in the 2014 MLB Amateur Draft, since they desperately need a future ace.

The Cubs currently have a handful of players that contenders would love to have down the stretch.

There is one player specifically that has been the focus of nearly ever Cubs trade rumor, Jeff Samardzija.

Which Cubs players are currently on the trading block? We will list the most likely trade candidates and any players the Cubs have their eye on in return.

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Sweetbob’s Fantasy Baseball F*ck/Marry/Kill – Week 4

This is the first installment of “Sweetbob’s Fantasy Baseball F*ck, Marry, Kill” of the young baseball season. If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer all of them. You can email me at bobbymcrib@gmail.com.

Welcome to “Sweetbob’s Fantasy F*ck, Marry, Kill”…

Before I begin, let’s go over the F/M/K terminology. The guys I list under “F*ck” are guys that are currently hot and you need to pick them up. “Marry”, are guys that you need to stick with, even if they are struggling a bit. “Kill”, are guys that you need to think about dropping for better players in the free agent pool.

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Review: “Wrigley Field: An Oral And Narrative History Of The Home Of The Chicago Cubs” by Ira Berkow

Spring Training is fast approaching and so is the season when great baseball books are released. “Wrigley Field: An Oral And Narrative History Of The Chicago Cubs” could be the gem of the year.

Ira Berkow went all out and made the most all-encompassing book about Wrigley Field ever printed. Not only are there interesting stories, but the photos in this book are amazing. Panoramic shots from various seats in the bleachers and rooftop seats to intimate portraits of early Cubs players.

This isn’t a small book. It’s a ‘coffee table’ book in size, but with enough written content to read and not just flip through.

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2013 MLB Rule 5 Draft Results

It’s rare I cover baseball news this time of year. NFL, NBA, NHL and college football are in-season and the only news worth mentioning right now are significant trades.

I try to weed out trade and free agent rumors in MLB, since there is so much fabricated information. Agents leak out wrong information to gain leverage in negotiations.

Something did happen today in the MLB, the Rule 5 Draft. As you may already know, the Texas Rangers selected Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson in the minor-league portion of the draft. Wilson played some minor league baseball in the Colorado Rockies farm system.

In the past, the major league portion of the MLB Rule 5 Draft has been significant in the past. Josh Hamilton, Jose Bautista, Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey and even hall of famer Roberto Clemente have been selected in the past. Here are today’s results and what the rules are after drafting a player.

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Who Will the Cubs Hire as Manager?

The Chicago Cubs managerial search took a hit with Joe Girardi re-signing with the New York Yankees. He was their top candidate, since he’s from the area and was a former player for the organization. Oh, he also won the World Series as a manager.

The list of qualified candidates is out there, but we try to weed out the rumors.

The decision on who they hire makes a statement if this organization is looking to win now or if they realize this team is still a few years from making a run.

Will Theo Epstein hire once again hire one of his boys (Dale Sveum was third base coach on Boston’s 2004 World Series team) or will he go outside his comfort zone?

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Texas Rangers Acquire Matt Garza from Chicago Cubs

The Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs finally put together a deal for pitcher Matt Garza. The Cubs are sending Garza to Texas for 3B prospect Mike Olt, minor league pitcher C.J Edwards, starter Justin Grimm and the infamous, player to be named later.

The trade has been on and off for over a week and as a Cubs fan, I’m just glad the Matt Garza trade drama is over. He’s been included in trade rumors soon after he began his first season on the North Side.

Mike Olt has shown power in the minors and is much more MLB-ready than recent #2 overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, Kris Bryant. Olt does have position flexibility, since he’s been working on his outfield defense. That was the only way he would have been called up to the Rangers, since Adrian Beltre blocked him at third base. So, if things work out as planned and Bryant is brought up in 2016, it shouldn’t be a problem to get these two guys in the lineup regularly.

C.J. Edwards has been lights out in A-ball this season. He has a K/9 over 11.00 and a K/BB ratio hovering around 4.00. He is projected to be a middle of the rotation guy or better.

Good luck to Mr. Garza in Arlington.

(I’m horrible at Photoshop, so I’ve embraced MS Paint. It’s funny, so expect more awesome photos that look like they’re edited by a four-year old.)

2013 MLB Team Preview: Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are in the middle of rebuilding their team the right way, through the draft. They are avoiding the offseason barrage of high-priced free agents, which was their vice during the final years of the Chicago Tribune ownership. The new owners, the Ricketts family lured Theo Epstein away from the Boston Red Sox before last season and ended the season with 101 losses in 2012.

Cubs fans aren’t expecting a World Series championship in 2013, but they want to see improvement. A few young prospects are expected to be called up at some point and those are the players the fans will have an interest in.

Should fans expect an All-Star season from Anthony Rizzo?

Will Matt Garza and Alfonso Soriano be traded at some point this season?

Here is the 2013 MLB season preview for the Chicago Cubs. Continue reading →

Will Anthony Rizzo Save the Chicago Cubs?

The Chicago Cubs currently have the worst record in all of baseball (24-48) and are trying to build for the future. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein has stated that nearly every player is on the trading block. Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza, Bryan LaHair, and Alfonso Soriano are all expected to be traded by the end of July. The one ray of hope occurred over the weekend, the Cubs called up their #1 prospect Anthony Rizzo.

The Cubs received Rizzo when they traded Andrew Cashner to the San Diego Padres this off-season. Epstein drafted Rizzo when he was the Boston Red Sox GM and wanted him on the Cubs.

Will Rizzo make his Chicago debut tonight against Johan Santana and the New York Mets or will they hold off his debut until they face Dillon Gee or Jonathon Niese later in the series?

Rizzo has all the tools to be a dominant hitter in the Majors. He has crushed the ball in the minors with Triple-A slash line of .337/.406/.673. In 69 games this season with Iowa (PCL) he has 23 homers, 62 RBI, and a .345 batting average.

To put his numbers into prospective and be realistic, Bryan LaHair’s 2011 Triple-A numbers were 38 homers, 109 RBI, with a .331 average through 129 games. LaHair has done well this year, but could end up being a 4-A player at the end of the day.

Rizzo had more than a cup of coffee with the Padres last season. He had a slash line of .141/.281/.242 with one homer in 128 at-bats. You could factor in that PETCO Park, San Diego’s home park, wasn’t suited for Rizzo’s skill-set, but he didn’t play every game at home.

Chicago could have started out the season with Rizzo as their starting first baseman, but they were smart by having him get his confidence back. He has a hot bat and Chicago could use it at the moment.

I doubt Rizzo will start in tonight’s game against Santana, but he could be used to pinch-hit later in the game. The smart money is that he will start on Tuesday and Wednesday. Chicago has been using LaHair in the outfield lately and should be in the lineup when a right-hander is on the mound.

I warn Cubs fans to lower expectations at the beginning. We don’t want another Felix Pie, Jerome Walton, Dwight Smith…(I could go on and on, but I don’t want to cry this morning). He will be batting near the middle of the order with Soriano and Geovany Soto sandwiching him. He will be protected to start out (well, as much as you can in an anemic batting order.

Rizzo will not save the season, but if he can show that he can hit MLB pitching and give the fans something to build on, he will do very well at the Friendly Confines.

…let the “Grease” nicknames begin. I’ll start, how about Anthony “Greased Lightning” Rizzo?

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