According to Jon Heyman, Ryan Dempster has been traded to the Dodgers. More to come if it's confirmed. Dodgers getting Dempster…..final dotting of i's and crossing of t's being worked on…… — JIM BOWDEN (@JimBowdenESPNxm) July 31, 2012 Still no word on whether it's official or who may be coming to the Cubs, but I'm sure Dempster will be traded …
Dale Sveum’s First Half MVPs: Shawn Camp and James Russell
NEW YORK — Who's your first half Most Valuable Player for the Cubs? Manager Dale Sveum picked relievers Shawn Camp and James Russell. Camp was 2-4 with a 2.86 ERA and one save, while Russell was 2-0 with a 2.43 ERA entering Sunday. Russell had a 2.30 ERA in 101 games since the start of 2011, the second-lowest mark by …
Did the Cubs really add that much depth?
Over on Cubs Den (a really good blog), John talks about how the Cubs have quietly built depth to give them trade flexibility. I want to look at his bullets one by one because I just don't agree with the conclusion that John is reaching. John is attributing this depth to Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer too, which is another …
OV’s Projected Playing Time for the 2012 Cubs
On Saturday I published this year's playing time survey and more than 50 of you took the time to fill it out. Thanks for taking the time. I'm going to go ahead and publish the results here. I didn't make any adjustments to the batters because you guys pretty much nailed it as far as position and team totals go. …
Daily Facepalm 3.19.12 – Weekend of Samardzija
Playing Time Projections Please take a few moments to fill out the 2012 Cubs playing time projections. It's as simple as possible. Weekend practice game roundup Geovany Soto homered, doubled, and walked in Saturday's game, so it looks like he's feeling better from his groin injury. Steve Clevenger, Adrian Cardenas, and Joe Mather also homered this weekend. Tony Campana broke …
Another shitty Cubs season in review: Casey Coleman, Ramon Ortiz, Doug Davis, Rodrigo Lopez, James Russell
When Wells and Cashner hit the DL on the same day in late April, the Cubs slim chances at grabbing a playoff spot disappeared. What we did not expect was the massive pile of fail that came in its wake…which doesn't even take into account the fact that Randy Wells probably came back too soon from his injury because the …
Taking a closer look at the Cubs supersized rotation
The Cubs currently have 6 starting pitchers on the roster*. Those 6 include Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster, Paul Maholm, Travis Wood, Chris Volstad and Randy Wells. Jeff Samardzija is also going to be stretched out in spring training, but may return to the bullpen when the season begins. The Cubs also have Andy Sonnanstine and Casey Coleman. If Trey McNutt …
What the Cubs have to consider at the Winter Meetings
We haven’t talked a lot about what the Cubs need to do this offseason. When the season ended they were without a GM so it made no sense. After they hired Theo and he assembled his front office it was difficult to know which direction the Cubs may go. There have been indications they’re willing to trade anybody and everybody, …
What kids?
Every year the Cubs struggle the masses come out and say the Cubs should play the kids. It happens every single time. It happens when a veteran is struggling. It’s happened a lot as the 2011 season has progressed. Who exaclty are the kids on the Cubs? Generally speaking, we refer to kids as being younger than 18. Often times …
Jeff Samardzija and James Russell
Non-closers don’t have a whole lot of value and that will remain true for both Jeff Samardzija and James Russell, but both of them have quietly put together strong seasons in relief for the Cubs. Russell was a starter early in the season and was banged up before moving back to the pen. Since then, he’s thrown 41 innings through …