Over on Cubs Den (a really good blog), John talks about how the Cubs have quietly built depth to give them trade flexibility. I want to look at his bullets one by one because I just don't agree with the conclusion that John is reaching. John is attributing this depth to Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer too, which is another …
Worst Moves of the Epstein Era
Since opening day is here (well, not here, but somewhere), it seems like an appropriate time to catalog the numerous failures of the Cubs under The Epstein Regime. Sure, no actual games have been played, but it’s never too early to make like mb and don your three wolves tee and start excoriating optimistic chumps. After all, future blogging historians …
Why Won’t ESPN Leave Steve Bartman Alone?
It's March Madness and everyone is doing brackets. Lots of people are taking part in an office or family pool, and are all pissed off about the state of their actual NCAA brackets. Others are using this time to create their own versions of a tournament. The Cubs did their bunting tournament, Sarah Spain over at espnW put together a …
Some thoughts on opening day starter and Brett Jackson
Dale Sveum decided to go with Ryan Dempster on opening day. There's little doubt that Matt Garza is the superior pitcher, but Dempster is still pretty good himself and it's not like Garza is awesome unless we look only at last season. Even if we do that, he only looks awesome when we look at his defense independent pitching stats. …
Cherry Picking
In the final 14 appearances one season, he threw 74 innings, allowed only 50 hits and posted a sparkling ERA under 2. After the season fans were excited about what this pitcher could do the following year. Ignored in those 74 innings was 1) he walked a lot of guys, 2) was considerably lucky in that his BABIP and HR/FB …
Travis Wood is to Pitching as Natalie Wood is to Swimming
Travis Wood sucks. He started the day with a 20.50 ERA. He was spotted a 7-0 lead before he took the mound. He left after allowing the game to be tied by the 3rd inning. His ERA now stands at 25.07. Don't talk to me about small sample sizes. He blows.
Jeff Samardzija close to locking down spot in rotation
Dale Sveum says Jeff Samardzija is close to locking down a spot in the rotation. “Obviously, that lock’s getting a little closer and closer to being finalized,” Dale Sveum said Sunday, one day after Samardzija’s four innings against the Rangers. The right-hander gave up one run on three hits. He has not walked a batter over six innings this spring. …
Lower Demand Won’t Hurt Cubs or Ticket Brokers As Much As You’d Think
A couple of days ago, Doc Blume wrote an interesting post about the obvious lack of demand for Cubs tickets this year. There are still tickets available for every game on the schedule, including Opening Day and the Red Sox series. There are large numbers of tickets available for most of the other games on the schedule. That is all …
Position Battles: Back-up Catcher
The Cubs roster is mostly set with a few exceptions. Welington Castillo and Steve Clevenger are battling it out for the back-up catcher spot. There's been this invented competition for the rotation, which I think is mostly nonsense. You've got Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm who are guaranteed spots in the rotation. Certainly deserving of a spot is …
People in Chicago can count real good
I love Dusty Baker. I'm not afraid to say it. I'm not a fan of the way he manages, though he does seem to be improving. I like hearing the dude talk. Man, he makes me laugh. Now he's wishing Dale Sveum good luck and let me be the 87,965th person to tell you this: all the luck in the …