The Ghosts of Free Agency Future

In Commentary And Analysis by GW151 Comments

In the aftermath of the recently announced deal with the city to renovate Wrigley Field, Theo Epstein spoke to the media about its potential benefits to the team: Our payroll now is third in the division. That’s fine. But it should be first in the division. So this is one of the ways that we’re going to get there. It …

Postgame Thread: Cubs 5, Braves 1, Cubs Bullpen -5

In Commentary And Analysis by berselius23 Comments

The Cubs got a good start from Carlos Villaneuva, who struck out 6 and gave up one run in 6.2 innings. Rizzo and Valbuena homered off of Braves starter Julio Teheran, and Nate Schierholtz was inches from adding one of his own. The Cubs were prepared to pour even more on, loading the bases in the top of the eighth …

Series Preview: Cubs (2-1) at Braves (2-1)

In Series Previews by berselius37 Comments

The Cubs somehow managed to scratch together enough runs to take a series from the Pirates. Now they head to relatively warm Atlanta for another three game set. Atlanta beat up on their aging divisional rivals, the Phillies in their opening series.  Team Overviews Here's how the teams looked in 2012. NL Ranks in parentheses.   Cubs Braves wRC+ 80 (16th) …

Cubs Sign Scott Hairston

In Commentary And Analysis, News And Rumors, Transactions by GW30 Comments

The Cubs have come to an agreement with outfielder Scott Hairston on a two year deal that could be worth up to six million dollars. The signing was originally reported by Ken Rosenthal and has since been confirmed by Bruce Levine. 2013 will be Hairston's 33 year old season. His career has consisted of mostly part-time work, first with Diamondbacks, …

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Daily Facepalm – 11.8.12

In Facepalm by berselius41 Comments

The Cubs may or may not be discussing Justin Upton with the Dbacks. It could go either way. Basically all there is to this report is Rosenthal saying that the Dbacks are having "active discussions" about Upton. One of his sources said that there's an 80% chance that he gets traded this offseason, though obviously the FO is denying this. …

An Upton family reunion in Chicago

In Commentary And Analysis by dmick8961 Comments

While Brett Jackson will return to AAA next year thanks to a poor performance at the big league level, he will get another chance at some point. I'm just not sure it will be with this team. The Cubs have a couple very attractive options this winter. The first is free agent B.J. Upton who is almost certain to not …

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Season in review: Alfonso Soriano

In Commentary And Analysis by dmick8921 Comments

Alfonso Soriano's projections entering the season (below) weren't anything special. It was a slightly below league average wOBA with expected poor defense and baserunning skills. Overall, he was expected to be about as close to replacement level as possible. Projection PA H HR BB SO avg obp slg wOBA CAIRO 463 106 18 34 100 .249 .308 .446 .326 Guru …

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Season in review: David DeJesus

In Commentary And Analysis by berselius99 Comments

I was looking through our media library, and it looks like the only pictures we have of DeJesus in the system are of him in a Royals uniform, his wife, and his ridiculous truck. That's pretty much summed up his year as a player. He didn't do anything in particular to raise anyone's ire, but never really distinguished himself either. …