Figured we should post that image since MO is against bunts at all times and because the image makes me laugh. MGL talks about a specific situation in which a bunt is not a good idea at all. The best part: Given that a win costs around 4 million dollars, a manager should be fined $40,000 dollars every time he …
Why extending Oneri Fleita and possibly Tim Wilken's contract doesn't matter
A part of me does wonder whether these kind of moves aren’t as bold or suggestive as I think. Consider this: we fully expect the Cubs to dump Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano this Winter, eating tens of millions of dollars in the process. Would it really be so shocking for Ricketts to be willing to eat these personnel extensions, …
Series Preview: Cincinnati Reds (69-71) at Chicago Cubs (60-80)
Team overview As always, these are team stats with NL ranks in parentheses. Reds Cubs wOBA .323 (4th) .316 (8th) UBR 14.2 (1st) -11.4 (16th) UZR 39.8 (2nd) -9.1 (10th) SP FIP 4.49 (16th) 4.26 (12th) RP FIP 3.99 (15th) 3.93 (13th) As usual, I feel smug about my pessimism towards the Reds pitching staff turning out to be true. …
Cubs likely to extend Tim Wilken's contract
In a move that will surely anger even more people, Tom Ricketts will sit down with Tim Wilken in a couple weeks to discuss the state of the system and Wilken’s contract status. In other words, Ricketts is very likely to extend Wilken’s contract. I’ve not been too pleased with Wilken, but one thing we have to consider is the …
Oneiri Fleita Getting An Extension is Clearly a Sign of the End of the World
Bruce Levine is reporting today that Oneiri Fleita got a four-year extension as Vice President of Player Personnel earlier this week. This is huge for a couple of reasons: 1) it means a Cubs beat reporter may have reported a story within the same calendar week as when the events actually occurred (largely believed to be an omen signaling the …
Caught Sleeping
Josh Harrison had an infield double in today’s game (click on the link to view the video). Below is a screen cap at the exact point that Harrison takes off for 2nd base. The ball was hit into the hole and Castro threw to 1st. Darwin Barney raced behind the bag to back it up and was in foul territory …
What the hell are the Cubs going to do this offseason?
I started blogging about the Cubs after the 2003 season. Myself and a couple others eventually started our own blog, but even after the 2003 season the direction the Cubs were heading was obvious. They had just come within 5 outs of reaching the World Series and they returned what was arguably the best rotation in baseball. They had acquired …
The Cubs Might Be Formulating an Actual Plan
I’ve not wanted to say anything because I didn’t want to jinx anything, but I’m starting to get a little bit more optimistic about the future of the Cubs under Tom Ricketts and Co. Believe me, I am not ready to go and start wearing an “I *heart* Ricketts” sandwich board and ringing a bell, but there have been a …
How much is Starlin Castro worth over a 5-year extension?
Yesterday I posted two polls. The first one was about whether or not you thought the Cubs should extend Starlin Castro and the second one was for how much. Before we get to the results, I wanted to run the numbers using projections. (click the link below to read more)