Our 2013 Cubs Projections series continues with a look at 3rd base. The starting job is Ian Stewart's according to Dale Sveum, which leaves Luis Valbuena as a back-up, but even that job may be in question. It's hard to see both Valbuena and Brent Lillibridge making the roster. I wrote a little bit about Ian Stewart a couple weeks …
Mild lat strain for Garza, will rest for one week
Via Carrie Muskat on twitter MRI shows #Cubs Garza has mild lat strain. He'll rest 1 week to make sure he's pain free. Not sure what it means re: reg season — Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) February 19, 2013
Cubs trade Tony Campana to Arizona
Don't forget to check out the OV Bunt Tournament Contest if you haven't already entered. The Cubs and Diamondbacks completed a trade that sends recently DFA'd Tony Campana to Arizona while the Cubs acquire two 17-year old pitching prospects. The Cubs dealt popular speedster Tony Campana to the Diamondbacks for a pair of 17-year-old Venezuelan right-handed pitchers: Erick Leal and …
Kyle Lohse on the arbitration process
MLBTR ran a great feature today about the arbitration process. It was kind of cool getting the perspective of the player (Kyle Lohse). It would also be nice to get a perspective from a GM. Hopefully they'll do that. “It’s not a pleasant thing,” Lohse said. “It’s hard to sit there and listen to the lawyer say how bad you …
OV Bunt Tournament Contest!
Spring Training is finally here! The next month or so is probably my favorite part of the year, because it's when I can delude myself into thinking that maybe the Cubs could get close to resembling a competitive team, sorta. This year looks to be no different; I've tricked myself into thinking the Cubs could win 81 games this year. …
Assume the Position: 3B
The Cubs have a few interesting names at third, but most of them are quite far away. Depending on how you feel about Vitters (and Baez), you could see some pretty sub-standard production from the hot corner for quite a long time. Where's Aramis when you need him? Last Year 2013 Career Name Age AVG OBP …
Garza Leaves Throwing Live BP Early with Trainers
Everybody was in the best shape of their lives and having fun watching Jed and Theo try their hand at bunting. Good times were had by all. That was yesterday. Today, Matt Garza stepped up on the mound to face live hitters for the first time since July. It did not go well. He ended up leaving early after getting a …
Cubs Bunting Tournament 2: Electric Boogaloo
The 2013 version of the Cubs Bunting Tournament is rapidly approaching and the Cubs beat writers seem pretty psyched about it. Carrie Muskat, Paul Sullivan, and Jesse Rogers are all Twitpic-ing the shit out of the brackets they've seen so far this morning. The first bracket is actually a play-in tourney for the 64th spot in the main tournament between some …
Cubs players who are out of options
There are 6 Cubs players who are out of options meaning they cannot be optioned to the minor leagues. They would have to be placed on waivers instead. Those players are: Michael Bowden, Welington Castillo, Rafael Dolis, Jeff Samardzija, Luis Valbuena and Travis Wood. There are no concerns that Jeff Samardzija would need to be optioned to the minors, but …
Last year Joe Mather, this year Brent Lillibridge?
Last season Joe Mather was signed to a minor league contract and then made the team. Joe Mather was not any good. Not before he signed with the Cubs and especially not with the Cubs. Despite this, he still had nearly 250 plate appearances. Joe Mather was the worst player in baseball last year. Baseball Reference only thought he was …