RC has been insistent about wondering how the Cubs may contend in 2013. I've been meaning to write something about it for some time, but can't help but think the Cubs are a long way away from contention. 2013 doesn't seem possible, but it's always possible. How can they do it? After thinking about this post for awhile I finally …
Joe Didn't Help Anything, But Tom Ricketts Has Screwed Himself
Joe Ricketts has had next to nothing to do with the Cubs since the Ricketts won the right to become the sole bidders on the team way back in 2009. He's the money guy. That's it. He has said as much publicly. He doesn't give a damn about the Cubs or baseball. He funded the purchase of the team because …
Power hitters should be bunting more frequently
I figured we could use a new post and it seemed like a good time to point out how power hitters are failing to maximize their production. Many of them are shifted against these days, even right-handed batters. The obvious way to put a stop to this is to bunt. All you've got to do as a batter is get …
Kerry Wood: Portrait of Cubness
Kerry Wood isn't the greatest pitcher ever to take the mound at Wrigley Field. Well, for one day (just over two hours, really) he was. But now that his career is over, it's impossible to look at his final statistical tally and consider him a truly great pitcher. He sure did give us reason to hope he would be . …
Geovany Soto to the DL, Chris Volstad Option to AAA
Geovany Soto has a tear in the meniscus in his left knee and will or already has undergone arthroscopic knee surgery. He'll be out at least 3 weeks. Blake Lalli was called up to fill his spot on the roster. The Cubs entered the season having a great deal of depth behind the plate. Soto was to be the starting …
Cubs more likely to trade Ryan Dempster if they extend Matt Garza?
Cubs right-hander Ryan Dempster, an obvious trade candidate, would be even more likely to be moved if the team signed righty Matt Garza to a contract extension. – Ken Rosenthal Does anybody understand this? I don't see what extending Garza has to do with whether or not the Cubs try to trade Ryan Dempster. Matt Garza is under club control …
Is Sveum seriously the best that Thoyer could have done?
The pitchforks and torches are out among many Cubs fans (and even the media) after Dale Sveum bunted with two men on and nobody out with a nonpitcher at the plate not once but twice late in yesterday's game. Even worse, ont of those cases was with the Cubs second best hitter, Starlin Castro. Sveum seems to have a fetish …
What's wrong with Carlos Marmol?
Between 2007 and 2011, Carlos Marmol threw 382.1 innings and allowed a ridiculously low 218 hits. He allowed only 21 home runs and struckout 540 batters. That's the good Marmol. During those same years Marmol threw 23 wild pitches, hit 39 batters and walked 241 of them. Despite a high walk rate, he still managed to have a higher than …
Soriano, his Bat, and Momentum
Hitting a baseball is all about momentum. Momentum is a vector describing a "quantity of motion" or in mathematical terms p (momentum) = mass * velocity. In a closed system, momentum is conserved. Conservation of momentum means that the harder you throw the ball, the harder the ball will bounce back. Think in the case of throwing a ball against …
We Are Shocked…SHOCKED!… To Learn Tom Tunney is in the Rooftop Owners' Pockets
In today's edition of Obviously Obvious Item of the Day, the Sun-Times has come right out and quantified what everybody familiar with the Cubs' relationship with Chicago's 44th Ward has known all along: Alderman Tom Tunney gets a tremendous amount of financial backing from the good people who own the rooftops across from Wrigley. It is also no secret that …