Series Preview: Philadelphia Phillies (1-2) at Chicago Cubs (1-2)

In Series Previews by berselius

Cubs HOF Ryne Sandberg returns to Wrigley for the Cubs home opener. The Phillies opened the season with a 14-10 win against the Rangers in which included a Jimmy Rollins grand slam and Cliff Lee picking up a win for giving up eight runs in five innings. Team Overviews These are 2013 numbers, NL rank is in parens Cubs wRC+: …

Poll Question: Which Garza Trade Would You Choose Today?

In Commentary And Analysis by GW47 Comments

On Monday, the Cubs completed the Matt Garza Trade Part II, sending him to the Rangers for C.J. Edwards, Justin Grimm, Mike Olt, and a PTBNL (either Neil Ramirez or presumably two lower-level arms). Olt is a potential power-hitting third baseman with a good glove, though there are questions about his ability to make contact. Edwards is a high-ceiling arm who …

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Season in Review: Matt Garza

In Commentary And Analysis by dmick8960 Comments

Following the 2010 season the Cubs decided to trade a bunch of players to acquire an overrated middle of the rotation pitcher in Matt Garza. Then he surprised many of us by having the best season of his career. His average WAR was 3.7 (5.0 fWAR, 2.5 rWAR, 3.7 WARP). His fWAR in 2011 was 1.9 higher than his previous …

Some more thoughts on the Matt Garza trade

In News And Rumors by dmick89Leave a Comment

Even though the Cubs are more known for their failures, mistakes and screw-ups, every once in awhile you have to give them credit. We probably should do so more than we have, but the acquisition of Matt Garza is one we definitely have to view differently than we did at the time. That doesn’t necessarily mean it was a good …

Looking Back at the Matt Garza Trade

In News And Rumors by dmick89146 Comments

I was none too happy when the Cubs traded for Matt Garza in the offseason. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Garza. He was a good pitcher about equal to Dempster and Zambrano so that would obviously be good if you can add a starter like that to any rotation. However, I hated what the Cubs had to give up …

Checking up on the Cubs top prospects

In Minor Leagues by dmick89195 Comments

I have always wanted to write more about the minor leagues, but whenever I start to do so I have failed to keep it up. As a result, I’ve mostly stopped writing articles about minor league players unless it’s relevant to the big league team. I know there are at least a few of you who closely follow the Cubs …

Can’t-Lose Thursday: Random Points of Hopefulness

In News And Rumors by andcounting141 Comments

The Cubs can’t lose today. Nary a single Cubbie appendix has ruptured. Starlin Castro hasn’t been put in timeout yet. Alfonso Soriano leads the league in homers. Wrigley Field hasn’t had chunks of itself fly off in several months. Albert Pujols‘ free agent value has tumbled to $299 million. No new Nicolas Cage movies are being released this weekend. It’s …