2012 Chicago Cubs

[pdga#7648]

I'm happy with this move as they no longer needed Colvin after picking up DeJesus.  Stewart bats left handed and they say that he is really good defensively.  You win with defense and pitching, so solid defense is doing just as much to take runs OFF the board from your opponent to hopefully keep you in the game.  Stewart had a wrist injury last year though, and we saw how long it was before Derrek Lee truly returned from his wrist injury.  That's the only part that worries.  He's probably a #7 hitter.  we don't want a bunch of #7 hitters!

So the lineup kinda would look like this now, maybe?
1 L - DeJesus
2 R - Barney
3 R - Castro
4 R - Byrd??
5 L - LaHair??
6 R- Soriano
7 L - Stewart
8 R - Soto??

VERY ugly middle of the lineup.  I would be all for Prince Fielder coming in and hitting 3 or 4 in combination with Castro.  Prince is also leftie, so you could almost have left/right all the way through the lineup.  They definitely need a better first baseman and pitching.  Still a long way to go to get this team over the top!

is that Barney the Dinosaur batting 2nd?

[Dan Michler]

I think its tough to predict the lineup at this point Scott.  I know the Cubs talked like they expect Stewart to start at 3B, but I think he'll have to earn that role in spring training.  He has really struggled recently.  First base we'll have to wait and see.  Even if we do add Fielder, this isn't going to be an impressive lineup in 2012.  Its a rebuilding process.  We're going to have to give Theo at least 3 years to make this thing happen.  I've just about given up on Soto.

If we do get Fielder, I'd like to have him 3rd and and Castro 4th, similar to when Sosa used to hit 3rd and Grace 4th.  Castro is the only guy in our lineup who could come remotely close to giving Fielder any protection.  Castro doesn't really need protection as he can swing (and hit) anything from his chest to his toes.  All the doubles he hits could drive in some runs from the 4 hole if Fielder is seeing alot of walks.

[CEValkyrie]

WOW!  The Brewers are going to most likely lose Fielder and now Braun for 50 games. Tested + for PED's. Doh!!!!

[pdga#7648]

going to be an easy division to win for the Cards now! 

[pdga#7648]

Tim Kirkjian, ESPN guy said Braun is saying someone gave him a candy bar that was tainted??    WTF? man up, you cheated!

[stpitner]

So aramis to the Brewers for 3 years.  I think I'd rather pitch to him than to Pujols.  I was still hoping he would sign outside the division, but oh well.  maybe he'll pull an Adam Dunn.

[Dan Michler]

Aram is a perfect fit there.  He is so terrible in any type of weather conditions.  He can avoid that under Miller Park's roof.  He might even hit better than .180 this April.

[pdga#7648]

They will need some kind o bat in the lineup, with Braun out 50 games, and ielder playing in Texas!

[Dan Michler]

Reds gave up the farm for Mat Latos.  He goes from the best pitchers park to the best hitters park.  Still, the park doesn't account for missing bats, which he does often with about 9K/9inn for his career.  They gave up the future to get him, but that rotation does look pretty solid with Cueto and Latos at the top.  I'm sure Dusty will burn Latos' arm out by 2013, so the Reds better win next year.  They probably think the division looks pretty winnable in 2012 with Pujols gone and Braun out for 50 games.

[pdga#7648]

  They probably think the division looks pretty winnable in 2012 with Pujols gone and Braun out for 50 games.

they would be mistaken!

[Dan Michler]

How about the Rangers dropping $51.7M for the right to negotiate a contract with this 25 year old Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish?  Supposedly he'll command about $75M for a 5 year deal on top of that.

Doesn't this seem crazy?  Why didn't they just pay C.J. Wilson?   Wilson signed a 5 yr/$77M deal to go to the Angels.

Either they are making a desperation move after seeing the Angels make a power move to take back the AL West by signing Pujols and CJ Wilson, or they are REALLY sure that Yu Darvish is going to be GREAT!  Basically they are paying $125M to get Yu Darvish for 5 years instead of $75M to get a proven major league starter in CJ Wilson.

With the recent history of Japanese players in MLB, I'm not sure how you could be so sure.  I know I really enjoyed Fukudome's 4 years in Chicago....

[CEValkyrie]

Crazy big money.

[Dan Michler]

Cubs sending Sean Marshall away for Travis Wood.  Epstein clearly thinking long-term here as Marshall was great last season, and Wood not so much.  Wood is still only 24 though and was a pretty highly touted prospect in the Reds system, so we'll see.  I would expect he'll be in our starting rotation for 2012.

Right now it's probably:
Garza
Dempster
Zambrano
Travis Wood
Wells/Cashner?

I'd absolutely be in favor of trying to get something for Marmol right now if we can.  I want to be done with that guy.

[pdga#7648]

scratch that. Theo must not want to put up with it?

Baseball tonight reports Zambrano will be traded to the Marlins.

[CEValkyrie]

They aren't Fing around cleaning house. We don't have any talent but at least I don't have to watch a bunch of f'ing bums. Too bad we can't move Soriano. I have a feeling if he's a POS they'll just release him next season. This is the classic burn down the barns to get all the rats out. The movement has begun.

[stpitner]

wow, reading what it says on the cubs website they possibly would be looking to pay $15-$16 of the $18 million owed to Zambrano, and they would only get Chris Volstad in return.  The blurb on Volstad:

Volstad, 25, was 5-13 with a 4.89 ERA in 29 starts last season with the Marlins, striking out 117 over 165 2/3 innings. In 103 games over four seasons in Florida, he was 32-39 with a 4.59 ERA. Volstad earned $445,000 last season; he will not be a free agent until after the 2014 season.

So the Cubs would at least have someone cheap (after this year) and under their control for 3 years, but those numbers aren't exactly impressive.  It would definitely be a dump of a clubhouse problem.  Kind of sad that this would happen.

But at least now we can start taking bets on how soon the first Carlos/Ozzie blowup at each other in the dugout will happen during the season

Aside from getting a lot of money, Soriano is a good clubhouse guy from what I understand.  He's not great defensively, that's probably the only reason why Theo would want to get rid of him sooner than later.

Glad to see Reed Johnson back for another year.  That dude hustles.  Those are the types of players the Cubs need.

[Dan Michler]

I this was a no-brainer for Epstein.  Zambrano has been on the decline since '07, and really fell off bigtime last year.  This would have been his last year with the Cubs anyway, and I don't think we are expecting to contend.  So why wouldn't you dump him, save yourself $3MM, and get another young arm to give you more depth in your starting rotation?  Seems like an easy decision to me.

If Soriano was in the last year of his deal, I'd think you'd see a similar trade.  But nobody is going to take on his contract that runs through 2014.  There has been alot of speculation about trading Garza for prospects.  Marmol is the main guy I'd love to see us get something for.

[Dan Michler]

Well I'm about 99% sure the Cubs are not acquiring Prince Fielder this offseason.

Epstein just traded Cashner for Padres 1B prospect Anthony Rizzo.  I don't think he'd trade away Cashner for this guy if he was planning on signing Fielder.  Rizzo was drafted by Epstein when he was with the Red Sox in 2007, so its obviously a player he is familiar with.  The Sox traded Rizzo to the Padres in the Adrian Gonzalez deal.

He was terrible in his brief call-up last season, but he's still just 21.  He was monstrous in AAA last season with a .331 avg .652 slugging%, 404 on base, 26 HR, and 101 RBI in just 356 AB.  He was rated the #75 prospect in baseball before that season, so I'd assume he's probably well within the Top 50 right now.  Not a move Hendry would have made, thats for sure.  The Cubs will have some serious dollars at their disposal next offseason.

[stpitner]

Rizzo was ranked #1 prospect for first basement by mlb.com last year - so if Jaramillo is as good as they all say he is, he'll start to rip the ball.  He's bats and throws leftie - hopefully has some good defense too.  Wow the team is getting young, but that could mean good things across the board.  It means it's a bunch of players that are still loving to play the game because they WANT to play the game and not corrupted by tons of money.  It's reminding me a LOT of what the Marlins did back in the day to trade away for a ton of prospects, they get really good, add a couple big boppers, and boom, championship.  They did that in what, 1999 and 2003?

I'm glad that they moved Cashner, it was another one of those pitchers where it was like "I hope he works out!  I'm not sure, but I hope so!" kinda like Samardzija... he doesn't have as much "promise" as Cashner did, but he needs to go too.

[CEValkyrie]

Cubs continue to pick away and sign Paul Maholm.

I read this about him.
Last year lefty Paul Maholm allowed 3 earned runs or less in 19 of his 26 starts, and 2 earned runs or less in 14 starts