Continuing our series, it's time to look at the 2013 Cubs Projections for Darwin Barney. Last spring Barney talked about hitting for more power. We knew he wouldn't be a power hitter or anything, but it was clear he and the Cubs wanted him to hit for a little more than he had. He did to some extent. He hit …
2013 PECOTA Projections
The 2013 PECOTA projections are out and I thought I'd post some of the Cubs below. Since you have to be a subscriber in order to download the spreadsheet, I'm only going to include PA and wOBA, which I calculated using the basic formula. For pitchers I'll only show IP and FIP (I calculated this too). 2013 PECOTA Projections for …
Better Know a Cub: Jorge Soler
Last year was the final time that the Cubs could really flex their financial advantage on the IFA market. After missing on Yoenis Cespedes (who is incredible), the Cubs hit on two of the big-ticket Latin American players. The first was Gerardo Concepcion, who is pretty much a non-prospect at this point. The other is Jorge Soler, who looks like …
Mesa, Arizona, Cubs Pitchers and Catchers are In You
Cubs pitchers and catchers report today so we can finally get down to talking about some serious baseball stuff like bunting tournaments and if there is any purpose at all for Steve Clevenger. But for now, this is the time on Sprockets when we dance!
2013 Cubs projections: Anthony Rizzo
A little over a week ago, we started our 2013 Cubs projections series by looking at Welington Castillo. The plan is to just go from catcher to 1st to 2nd and so on. Up today is Anthony Rizzo. For more than half a decade the Cubs got a .385 wOBA out of their 1st baseman. Derrek Lee was traded midseason …
2013 Cubs projections: Dioner Navarro and Steve Clevenger
Neither of these players are very good so I'm not going to discuss them. Here are the 2013 Cubs projections for Steve Clevenger and Dioner Navarro. Clevenger PA H 2B 3B HR SB avg obp slg wOBA CAIRO 385 92 21 2 5 2 .260 .323 .376 .312 ZiPS 357 86 20 2 3 1 .261 .309 .361 .291 Average …
#6Org
Dave Cameron rationalizes the Felix Hernandez extension. But, if the frictional costs of shipping Felix out are as high as Farnsworth’s estimates suggest that they are, then it may very well be in the Mariners best interests to overpay Felix in salary rather than try to make due with depressed revenues in the future. Paying a pitcher this much money …
Seattle just lost their minds
Felix Hernandez is an incredible pitcher. I'd take Clayton Kershaw over him, sure, and maybe Matt Cain. Other than that, though, Felix might be the most valuable pitcher in the game today. That being said, he's not worth 7 years and $25 million a year. No pitcher is (or, I should say, was), unless he is vintage Pedro or Maddux. …
Four most likely to exceed expectations
I was working on an idea for a post using the 2013 Cubs projections. The idea was to calculate an approximation of the best case scenario win total. I was going to use the 65th percentile projection for every player just for fun. I'll finish that before the season, but as I was getting the position player projections into a …
Assume the Position: SS
The future at SS is pretty bright. The Cubs' minor league system features a consensus Top 20 prospect (albeit one with a low floor), an organizational Top 15 prospect (albeit one with a huge issue), and a guy that has incredible tools (though SS might not be his final destination). Without further ado, lets get to it. …