Manager MILWAUKEE — The Cubs will meet Wednesday with Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum about their vacant managerial position. Sveum was already scheduled to travel here to meet with the Red Sox about a their manager job. Chicago general manager Jed Hoyer said there is no favorite among the candidates and no deadline to select one. Hoyer and Theo Epstein, …
Another shitty Cubs season in review: Alfonso Soriano
Alfonso Soriano hit 10 home runs and slugged .613 in April. Over the remaining five months he hit 16 home runs and slugged .435. Although he had a very good April, his OBP was only .278. It was only .292 the rest of the season and finished just below .290. Soriano has always been a guy who can carry a …
Theo is a Cub so what next?
When the reports of Theo Epstein signing with the Cubs began to trickle in this morning (or actually last night), I started thinking about what it means in the short-term for the Cubs. The truth is that I, and you, have literally no idea. I wrote this before reading Aisle 424’s most recent article so there may be some similarities. …
Another shitty Cubs season in review: Randy Wells
The 2011 Cubs posted the 109th worst winning percentage in its history. What’s really depressing about that is since I’ve been a fan the following Cubs teams have been as bad or worse: 1986, 1983, 1994, 1997, 2002, 1999, 2006, 2000, 1980, and 1981. Of the Cubs 137 year history, 11 teams have had a .438 winning percentage or lower. …
A thought or two about Carlos Marmol
I didn’t make it a secret that I thought the Cubs 3-year extension given to Carlos Marmol last offseason wasn’t a wise decision. Despite that, I made it clear that Marmol was not being paid like an elite reliever and was worth the contract at the time it was signed. This was true even if you consider the discount that …
Offseason Preview: Trade Candidates
Without even knowing what the Cubs general plan is going to be this offseason, it’s very difficult to look ahead to the offseason with any confidence of what they may do. They could decide to go all in and go after guys like Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder and CC Sabathia. They could pass on all of them and stand …
Is Sean Marshall the best reliever on the Cubs?
I know I’m not the first person to ask this question and with Carlos Marmol‘s recent meltdown, probably not even the first to ask it in the last few days. We can ignore the recent meltdown altogether and focus on the last two years instead. I chose the last two years because it’s quite clear Sean Marshall became a different …
BABIP Regression
Prior to the Cubs signing Carlos Marmol to a 3-year extension this past offseason, there was a lot of talk about how Marmol was one of those guys who could have a very low BABIP. His BABIP as a reliever since 2007 had been .241, which is well below the average and even below the average for an extreme fly …
The Cubs and their trade deadline decisions
Last week we had a heated debate and/or argument on here about the decisions the Cubs made about not trading certain players. I wanted to write something about this immediately, but wanted to collect my thoughts and not let emotion guide me. I also wanted to make sure I hadn’t just planted my feet and was arguing something just to …
2012 NL Central Champion Cubs, part 3
Wreckard took a look at how the 2007 Cubs improved compared to the 2006 team and what kind of improvements this current team would need to make for next year. In the first part of this series. we took a look at payroll and named several players the Cubs should keep if they plan to contend next season. The second part …