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*** Chicago Cubs 2010 Bandwagon *** (1 Viewer)

Statorama

gangster
Cubs will be so good in 2010 that Chinese restaurants will have to change years ending in zero to "Year Of The Cub" on all their paper placemats.

 
O, how this spring of love resembleth

The uncertain glory of an April day;

Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,

And by and by a cloud takes all away

 
The Cubs won't win it in 2010. They will however win it in 2012 right before the end of the world.

 
I have been looking a lot at the farm system the past couple of week and the Cubs seems to have strengthened their system this past year.

Josh Vitters mashed at low-A Peoria before struggling in high-A Daytona. His big questions are swinging at pitchers pitches early in counts and he will be at best a fringe defender at third. Some reports are that he is pretty lazy about work ethic which is a huge issue if not corrected. He, however has the ability to be a 300-30 hitter. Probably is the highest upside prospect but there is much more risk with him. He is at least a full year away and probably two.

Starlin Castro was the biggest riser this year. Looking like a plus defender at short and hit pretty well even after his promotion to AA Tennessee at the age of 19. He doesn't walk a lot but doesn't strike out a lot either. Slugged below 400 but scouts seem to be saying he should develop gap power. Similar to Vitters, Castro is probably 1-2 years away but he is a much safer prospect than Vitters right now.

Hak-Ju Lee raked at Boise at the age of 18. Batted 330 with a 399 on base along with 25 steals. He is described as having all the tools to be a plus defensive shortstop but did commit 27 errors this year. Baseball America rated him the best player in the Northwest League this year.

Brett Jackson was rated #3 in the Northwest League. The 1st round pick apparently looks like a legit CF who moved up from rookie ball to Peoria since being drafted in June. He hit for a solid average at each level and hit 7 homers in 112 Peoria at bats.

Jay Jackson might be the #1 pitcher in the system now. An 8th round pick in 2008, Jackson split time between Daytona and Tennessee before finished of the season in AAA Iowa. He has a fastball that tops at 95, a plus curveball, and an average slider. He is still working on his changeup and has some command issues. He posted a 3.70 ERA in AA with a 2-1 K/BB ratio and just under a strikeout an inning.

Much like Samardzjia, Andrew Cashner is being groomed as a starter when it appears he might have to be a reliever. The DeRosa trade brought Jeff Stevens to the ML bullpen but also lefty John Gaub who could factor into the 2010 bullpen and Chris Archer who was solid in Peoria at 20 years old. Chris Carpenter moved up to AA and pitched well throughout the year with a fastball that can touch 97. 3rd round pick Austin Kirk is a lefty who impressed in a few appearances.

As for the position players, 2B Logan Watkins (Boise), OF Kyler Burke (Peoria), #2 '09 pick IF DJ Lemehieu (Peoria), IF Ryan Flaherty (Peoria), OF Tyler Colvin (Tennessee) and SS Darwin Barney (Tennessee/Iowa) all had solid years at age appropriate levels.

 
Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and

some have greatness thrust upon 'em.

 
In a Baseball America chat, Callis stated that Castro would be among his top overall prospects in the league. I think it is a foregone conclusion that he is considered the Cubs best prospect. Callis compared his upside to Derek Jeter offensively.

 
So is Sandberg going to manage the team in 2011?I just read that he's the new Triple A manager.
i think it is a real possibility. If he has a solid year managing AAA, then he will be a real candidate. Not 100% sure if he is going to be good, but I am done with Lou. Lou has said that he is open to returning past 2010. I really hope he is done after this year. He drives me nuts. I think Ricketts would not hesitate on hiring Ryne either.As of now, I think Ryne would be a good choice, but we'll see how he does this year.
 
I honestly hope you guys don't hate Silva near as much as those of us in Seattle do. Also, I hope the corresponding increase in catering costs inside the clubhouse don't hamper the payroll too much.

 
3 yr/$15M. That's not terrible if his Texas performance is sustainable, although that approach didn't work out too well with Milton Bradley.
I certainly think Byrd's performance is sutainable - in fact as well as he played for the Rangers last year, his stats could have been better if they weren't constantly moving him around (for the wrong reasons and then for the injured Hamilton). His ceiling is higher - although clearly the park in Arlington is more hitter friendly.On top of that Byrd is a good guy - and he can play all the outfield positions although clearly they brought him in to play CF

Bradley is a totally different animal and that was always a bad signing because there is no DH in the NL and of course the prospect of Bradley co-existing with Lou for a whole year was non-existent

 
Finally, some encouraging news:

Cubs bring back Greg Maddux - as an assistant to GM Jim Hendry

By Craig Newman on January 11, 2010 2:16 PM

Greg Maddux is a Cub again. No, he won't be pitching, but he will be helping general manager Jim Hendry figure out what to do with his pitchers.

Maddux is about to be announced as a special assistant to Hendry, helping the embattled GM with player development. ESPN is reporting that Maddux will be a season-long presence for player evaluation:

Maddux's duties will include helping with instruction for both major-leaguers and minor-leaguers during spring training, as well as scouting duties throughout the season.

According to a source with knowledge of the signing, Maddux will be at the beck and call of Hendry during the season to evaluate minor-league affiliates and give the general manger input when trades or free-agent signings are being considered.

Maddux has always been touted as one of the smartest players in the game and his impact on young pitchers is second-to-none. But does he have enough mojo to turn the Cubs system around?
link
 
Cubs To Make Run At Sheets

By Howard Megdal [January 11, 2010 at 8:58pm CST]

As Ken Rosenthal guessed last week, the Chicago Cubs are reportedly set to make a run at free agent pitcher Ben Sheets, the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan reports.

According to Sullivan, Cubs GM Jim Hendry contacted Sheets' agent during the Winter Meetings. Sheets is reportedly asking for two years and a guaranteed $10-12MM, though the Cubs believe "they have a good shot at landing him with an incentive-laden deal."

It is hard to imagine Sheets getting anywhere close to that kind of guaranteed money, considering he missed the entire 2009 season.

Sullivan sees Sheets slotting in nicely in front of Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly in the Chicago rotation, with Randy Wells and newly-acquired Carlos Silva also serving as starting options.

With Lilly coming off of arthroscopic shoulder surgery, and little recent success from Silva, it is hard to imagine the Cubs want to roll the dice with Sheets. However, they did acquire Rich Harden in July 2008, so high-risk, high-reward pitchers may just be how the Cubs roll.

 
pantagrapher said:
Finally, some encouraging news:

Cubs bring back Greg Maddux - as an assistant to GM Jim Hendry
link
Hendry can use all the help he can get
This is the best personnel decision Hendry has made since Aramis. He’d better get him to commit to 10 years with the organization or he'll be managing the Braves in 3 years.
The Aramis and DLee trades have saved Hendry's job so far.
 
pantagrapher said:
Finally, some encouraging news:

Cubs bring back Greg Maddux - as an assistant to GM Jim Hendry
link
Hendry can use all the help he can get
This is the best personnel decision Hendry has made since Aramis. He’d better get him to commit to 10 years with the organization or he'll be managing the Braves in 3 years.
The Aramis and DLee trades have saved Hendry's job so far.
I'm not sure that the one's been worth the other.
 
Hard to imagine the wheels coming off any more badly than they did in 2009. A perfect storm of bad seasons for Soto, Gregg, Soriano, Fontenot/Miles and Bradley and toss in a major injury to Ramirez. I think we have to come to terms with the fact ####odome will hit .260 with 10-12 HRs......not what you want out of a corner outfielder. Harden is gone but as good as he could be at times, he didn't give you a lot of innings. Lilly had some minor surgery in the offseason (I think).....Zambrano has #1 starter stuff but is a head case. But for all the potential issues, how do they not win 90 games?

 
I am not predicting anything as of yet for this team. Yeah, if Lee, Ramirez, Byrd, Soriano, and Soto are on the same 800+ OPS page, they can be very good offensively. Theriot and ####udome can provide good OBP for #1 or #2 hitters. If Wells can do it again along with Zambrano, Dempster, and a healthy Lilly and Marmol realizes where the strike zone is, the pitching could be average to above average. If all that happens, the Cubs should be in the battle for the playoffs. But that is a lot to count on even though I see the possibility. If Lee and Ramirez are injured or regress, Soriano and Soto don't rebound, Wells is a one year wonder, Lilly misses more time then expected, Marmol stills walks half the batters he sees.... The Cubs are losing 80+ games easy and I see the possibility.

:lmao:

 
The Cubs are reportedly looking at Ben Sheets to fill the RHP/DL slot vacated by Rich Harden
My initial reaction is negative, but if Sheets can stay healthy, at least he knows the hitters in the division. Of course, they know him too. If they can get him in an incentive-laden contract the way they want to, then I guess I'm for it.
 
The Cubs are reportedly looking at Ben Sheets to fill the RHP/DL slot vacated by Rich Harden
My initial reaction is negative, but if Sheets can stay healthy, at least he knows the hitters in the division. Of course, they know him too. If they can get him in an incentive-laden contract the way they want to, then I guess I'm for it.
Pretty Big
No doubt about it. And the :popcorn: by Brewers fans if this fails will be salt in the wound.
 
Quick look at the starting offense today.

Geovany Soto - 27 years old - What is interesting is that his walk and strikeout rates both improved and his ability to drive the ball ((tb-3b)/hits) was virtually the same as in his rookie of the year campaign. He just couldn't hit the ball where they weren't all season as his average dropped from 285 to 218. I actually see a huge improvement this year back towards the 800 OPS range.

Derrek Lee - 34 - With everyone else falling apart, Lee had easily the 2nd best year of his career. Overall he was a better hitter but he drove the ball significantly better last year. In 07/08, he basically hit 2 doubles for every homer. Last year, he hit 36 doubles and 35 homers. I see a drop from his 972 OPS back into his normal 850-900 range.

Second Base - ??? - Mike Fontenot fell apart in every way last year. The most significant drop was his walk rate and it was pretty easy to see him struggling to get ahead in the count all year. However, Jeff Baker was an above average offensive force in his partial Cubs debut. I have no idea what to expect from either of these players. But there is a small chance that Theriot is moved to 2B if Starlin Castro can prove in spring training that he should be the starting shortstop.

Aramis Ramirez - 32 - Can he stay healthy? That really is the only question by me. He has picked up his walk rate the last two years but has also dropped in his ability to drive the ball by hitting way more doubles than homers. If healthy, I see a floor of 285 ba - 375 obp - 500 slg and a ceiling of 310 ba - 400 obp - 570 slg if he can turn more doubles into homers.

Ryan Theriot - 30 - His OBP dropped over 40 points to 343. His walk rate and strikeout rate both fell and we all know he has no power. If he can't improve those two rates, he doesn't belong in the lineup and the hope is either he recovers those rates or Castro is ready and Baker is a legitimate 2b. However, he does improve those rates he belongs in the top 2 in the lineup. I don't know what to expect here.

Alfonso Soriano - 34 - He has yet to come close to playing a full season in three years with the Cubs. We all know he will strike out a ton and only walk once every few games. I assume a rebound past 800 OPS but I would be stunned if he recovers the 870+ OPS of the previous Cubs seasons. He is the biggest question mark on the offense because of his past ability to carry the team for stretches contrasted by the depth of his lows that lasted most of last season.

Marlon Byrd - 32 - He has been an above average offensive player for three years now. In addition, he is moving to the easier league and isn't Milton Bradley. Last year, the improved his power numbers but lost 40+ points in his OBP. I see a wide range in expectations for him. He could approach a 900 OPS in the NL if he combines the power with the previous OBP. Or he power was a fluke and he doesn't recover his OBP and he is a >800 OBS player.

Kosuke - 33 - He improve into an average offensive player last year as his slugging improved from 379 to 421. I see him being the best option at the top of the lineup against righties as his 387 obp versus righties last year would prove. Yeah, he isn't a corner outfielder hitter but he doesn't need to be if Soriano and Soto rebound.

In the end, I see two solid to very good hitters in the middle of lineup in DLee and Ramirez. Kosuke will be a solid top the lineup option against righties. Then, it is nothing but question marks. Aside from injuries, the performance of Soto, Soriano, and Byrd will tell the story of the offense this year. Theriot is either a leadoff option or shouldn't be starter. Second base is a mystery. Even if Castro makes the team, he will be a bottom of the order hitter to start with and 2B is still a ????.

 
this train seems destined for good shtick, 84 wins, and no october baseball.

also, i had no idea wrigley, the poster not the field, was so old.

 
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Recent ESPN insider article named Ryan Braun as the hitter elite pitchers hate to face the most. The only other hitter mentioned that consistently hits elite pitchers was Derrek Lee. No surprise.

 
Supposedly Soto has lost 30 pounds since the season ended and Zambrano claims he has abs (visible). Not sure how one can lose 30 pounds in 3 1/2 months if they aren't 400 pounds to start with but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt. There have been some whispers about Soto, how he came out of nowhere to put up big power #s in 2008. Hopefully it was legit.

 
Second Base - ??? - Mike Fontenot fell apart in every way last year. The most significant drop was his walk rate and it was pretty easy to see him struggling to get ahead in the count all year. However, Jeff Baker was an above average offensive force in his partial Cubs debut. I have no idea what to expect from either of these players. But there is a small chance that Theriot is moved to 2B if Starlin Castro can prove in spring training that he should be the starting shortstop.
Curious about this guy. Anyone have the scoop?
 

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