Shortstop is the last infield position we have to look at it and it's without a doubt the most exciting position. If you look at Starlin Castro's fWAR you can't help but be impressed, but if you look at his rWAR he looks much less impressive. Whereas UZR sees Castro as a well below average fielder, Total Zone sees him …
On Ryan Braun’s overturned suspension
I’m not here to exonerate Ryan Braun or declare that he’s definitely clean. I have no idea if he used steroids or not, just like I have no idea if Roy Halladay has used steroids or whether Dee Gordon has used steroids. – Dave Cameron, Fangraphs This is nonsense. Let me first say that I am not even close to …
Cubs and Red Sox finally complete Theo Epstein compensation
Several months after being on the 5-yard line the two sides have agreed to a compensation package. The details were released this morning. The Cubs send Chris Carpenter and a player to be named later. The Cubs will also receive a player to be named later. That part is confusing to me. They said a player had to be sent …
Baseball America Top 100 Prospects
Baseball America has released their annual top 100 prospects and 4 Cubs are on it. The prospect lists I always look forward to are those by Baseball America. It seems in recent years that a dozen people have tried to capitalize on the increasing interest in prospects and have come up with their own lists. I'm sure some of them …
Projecting the 2012 Cubs: 3rd Basemen
So far we've looked at catchers, 1st basemen and 2nd basemen. 1st and 2nd base appear to be very weak for the 2012 Cubs and I can tell you before you read further that 3rd base is no different. The Cubs lost Aramis Ramirez to free agency who had been at 3rd since midway through the 2003 season. Before we …
Projecting the 2012 Cubs: 2nd Basemen
I don't really know why, but whenever I think about Darwin Barney I want to pronounce his name with a Boston accent. I guess it makes it more fun to think about Dahwin Bahney rather than what Barney is actually capable of producing. He returns for his 2nd full season though he's probably not the one who should be starting. …
The future Cubs
In a couple years the Cubs infield will include future stars like Hee Seop Choi, Bobby Hill and Brendan Harris. Sammy Sosa will be joined by Corey Patterson and David Kelton. Before long Nic Jackson will take over in CF while Patterson replaces Sosa. Future Hall of Famer Kerry Wood will be at the top of a rotation that includes …
Cubs sign Jorge Soler?
Apparently the Cubs have or are close to signing Jorge Soler to a 4-year deal for $27.5 million. There's no inclusion in the contract that he become a free agent after 4 years. Instead, he'll have to accrue 6 years of MLB service time before that happens. The Cubs will have 4 options. More on this tomorrow.
Trusting Theo
The Cubs new President of Baseball Ops was one of the best GMs in the game. Their new GM was one of the best assistants in the game prior to becoming the GM of the Padres. He rebuild the Padres farm system in two years. The Cubs new player development director is also one of the better ones around. I …
MGL on Clubhouse Confidential
The Book's MGL was on Clubhosue Confidential tonight. I've embedded it here for you to watch. Your browser does not support iframes.