The Cubs ZiPS projections for 2013 are available on Fangraphs now. The Cubs are projected by ZiPS to have, in shortstop Starlin Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo, to have a pair of basically All Star-type players who are also just 23 years old. Those are good kinds of players to have — especially for a team that isn’t likely …
How many games will the 2013 Cubs win?
Over at The Cub Contrarian, Kyle used an estimated WAR for players to get a team win total. I thought I'd do the same thing, but I'm going to do it two ways: projections and my wild ass guesses. Wild Ass Guess Catchers: Welington Castillo (1.0), Dioner Navarro (negative infinity) I could easily see Castillo being a 2 WAR player, …
Muskat: Work in progress, but Cubs aim to be competitive
I saw the title of this article a couple days ago, but didn't bother reading it. I don't believe the Cubs have attempted to be competitive in the short term in any way whatsoever so the title made me laugh. I thought I'd answer the questions just for fun. 1. Are Matt Garza, Scott Baker and Arodys Vizcaino healthy? Yes. …
Copying what other sucky team’s bloggers do
Having difficulty thinking of something to write about, I decided to look to other bloggers for teams that suck for ideas. The first idea came from a Royals blog that was comparing all the starters at each position in the division. Previous positions: Catcher We'll go around the diamond so 1st base is next. The starters for the NL Central …
Cubs interested in Giancarlo Stanton
Nick Cafardo says the Cubs are one of many teams interested in acquiring the Marlins 22 year old superstar. 1. Giancarlo Stanton, RF, Marlins — It would be a coup for whichever of the 25 teams (I’m exaggerating) that would or have bid for him to actually acquire him. But commissioner Bud Selig is watching the Marlins closely after the …
Today in Rant Sports Awfulness
Aisle 424 ripped Rant Sports a new one last night and today we've got another reason to do so. Let's just start with the title. Theo Epstein: The Portrait of a Snake-Oil Salesman A snake oil salesman is someone who is basically a fraud because what he's selling (elixirs usually), have been proven to not work. Theo Epstein has two …
Baseball Prospectus Top 10 Cubs Prospects
Baseball Prospectus has released their version of the Cubs top 10 prospects. 1. OF Albert Almora 2. SS Javier Baez 3. OF Jorge Soler 4. RHP Arodys Vizcaino 5. 1B Dan Vogelbach 6. OF Brett Jackson 7. RHP Pierce Johnson 8. RHP Duane Underwood 9. 3B Christian Villanueva 10. RHP Dillon Maples Jason Park is very high on Almora and …
Epstein, Bush, and the coaching staff
Theo Epstein talked Cubs a year after his hiring was official. One year ago, the Cubs had one player who projected as part of the core Epstein and Co. are trying to develop and that was shortstop Starlin Castro. Today, Epstein said there are at least half a dozen in the organization, including pitcher Jeff Samardzija, first baseman Anthony Rizzo, …
An Upton family reunion in Chicago
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 …
Cubs prospect all-stars
Milb.com is doing a series that lists the best prospect at each position. The Cubs were up yesterday. It's a pretty good list, but this was a head-scratcher. Utility — Anthony Rizzo, Iowa (70 games), Chicago (87 games): Despite playing only 70 games for the Triple-A Cubs, Rizzo led the organization with 23 homers and drove in 62 runs while …