With the late-July trading season approaching, the usual rule applies that you trade older, more expensive players at positions where you have a surplus. While I hope they make a few deals, this team does not need to be “blown up,” as some fans are saying. The Cubs won’t make the postseason, and the [...]
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Posted 01 July 2010
† Phil
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Hendry § Piniella § prospect § soriano § trade
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Also tagged: alfonso soriano, andrew cashner, brett jackson, carlos silva, d.j. lemahieu, derrek lee, jim hendry, jody davis, joe carter, joe girardi, lou piniella, marlon byrd, micah hoffpauir, rafael palmeiro, rebel ridling, robinson chirinos, sean marshall, shawon dunston, starlin castro, ted lilly, tyler colvin, welington castillo
I fancy myself a bit of a scout–a scout of the armchair, box-score persuasion, one who never set eyes on any of the players mentioned in this post unless they happened to be on WGN on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in March.
The results of my scouting are tabulated, weekly during the season, in the [...]
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Posted 12 March 2010
† Phil
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prospect
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Also tagged: alex maestri, alfonso soriano, andrew cashner, aramis ramirez, blake parker, brad snyder, brandon guyer, brett jackson, carlos marmol, chris archer, chris carpenter, chris huseby, david cales, derrek lee, dexter fowler, dustin sasser, greg reinhard, hak-ju lee, james adduci, jay jackson, jeff beliveau, jeff stevens, jeffry antigua, john gaub, jose valdez, josh vitters, juan pierre, koyie hill, kyler burke, logan watkins, manolin de leon, marlon byrd, matt camp, micah hoffpauir, michael bourn, nyger morgan, ryan buchter, sam fuld, starlin castro, tony campana, tyler colvin, willie taveras, xavier nady
When it develops its own players, a solid baseball organization also produces tradeable veterans. Tradeability is something of a foreign concept to Cub fans. It does not apply to high-profile flops, players you wish had never come in the door. Cub fans are quite familiar with players of that sort. Recent examples are Soriano, Fukudome, [...]
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Posted 21 February 2010
† Phil
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Hendry § Ricketts § prospect § trade
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Also tagged: d.j. lemahieu, hak-ju lee, jim hendry, john mcdonough, jose serra, marlon byrd, oneri fleita, rebel ridling, ryan flaherty, ryan theriot, starlin castro, tim wilken, tom ricketts
Word was out last week that nineteen Cubs not currently on the 40-man roster have been invited to spring training with the major-league team.
Infielders: Barney, Camp, Castro, LaHair, Lalli, Scales, Vitters
Outfielders: Jackson, Snyder
Catchers: Chirinos, Clevenger, Robinson
Pitchers: Cashner, Coleman, Diamond, Kennard, Mathes, Perkins, Russell
Say hello to your 2010 Iowa Cubs!–with the exceptions of under-22 prospects Vitters, [...]
Here are end-of-season numbers for Koyie Hill and Geovany Soto in terms of games won/lost and runs for/against.
It’s still a smallish data sample, as evidenced by the closing of the gap, under “average runs against,” in just the last week or ten days of the season. See my previous post.
Soto’s numbers are impacted by [...]
The Cubs’ starting pitchers have been lined up through the end of the season, but so far no announcement concerning the starting catchers, which might be the more useful information. While (except for newcomer Gorzelanny) the pitchers have pretty much the same record, the two catchers have win-loss records that diverge widely.
Until very [...]
Check out this syllogism:
Hoffpauir is putting up numbers at Iowa this season that are reminiscent of Soto’s breakout season last year.
Soto has put up numbers at Chicago in 2008 that track closely with those of Derrek Lee.
Therefore, the Cubs should seriously consider trading Lee in the offseason and going with Hoffpauir (plus maybe some [...]
Not a good trade. I wouldn’t trade Gallagher, period, and certainly not for a pitcher who, Broglio-like, comes with duct tape included.
The argument that “this is the year” and we have to pull out all the stops, etc., is a child’s argument–or a sportswriter’s. Its logic dictates that the Cubs should have traded Soto [...]
When Felix Pie was sent to DesMoines two weeks ago, his parachute failed to open and he landed in a heap. He was oh-for-sixteen through four games when he got his first hit, an opposite-field homer. After Sunday’s two-hit performance, he now stands at 5 for 44, a .114 clip.
He’ll do better, of course. [...]