Michael Bourn rumors have been flying around all offseason, but he is still sitting there without a job for 2013. We were told how he'd be one of the most highly sought after free agents this offseason, but perhaps those people who said that need to rethink it. Bourn has had plenty of suitors, but talks with him have not …
2013 Cubs Projections: Welington Castillo
I know I said I probably wasn't going to do these this year, but I am going to change the format a little bit. I won't be combining 5, 6 or 7 projections to create an average. I will just stick to two: CAIRO and ZiPS. I doubt the average between these two will be that much different than they'd …
Interview with Tom Tango (aka tangotiger)
As most of you probably know, Tom Tango now exclusively consults with the Cubs. This is incredible news: Tom Tango, also knows as tangotiger, is one of the greatest baseball minds in the game today. Many of the foundational statistics that we have today come from The Book, the spiritual successor to The Hidden Game of Baseball. Mr. Tango has …
Carlos Marmol Accused of Domestic Violence
Bad news concerning Carlos Marmol: According to a report in the Domincan Republic, Cubs closer Carlos Marmol is being accused of Domestic Violence. — David Kaplan (@thekapman) January 31, 2013 More on this as it develops, but if true this could be a hairy situation. I've been debating whether or not to throw a control issues joke in here, but …
John Sickels’ 2013 Farm System Rankings
John Sickels has published his 2013 farm system rankings and the Cubs are 10th. That's 10 spots better than a year ago. The Cubs system has improved quite a bit. 10) Chicago Cubs (20): Another system that has improved quickly. Strengths: hitting at the top: Javier Baez, Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, Dan Vogelbach is a very impressive quartet and there …
2013: Are the Cubs .500?
Last year, the Cubs won 61 games. In the offseason, Chicago made the following signings: Edwin Jackson Scott Baker Carlos Villanueva Scott Feldman Nate Schierholtz Scott Hairston Dioner Navarro Kyuji Fujikawa The rest of the team is more-or-less intact: the Cubs basically had no free-agents (they traded everyone that was going to be a free agent of worth). There aren't …
Assume the Position: 2nd Base
I'm pretty excited about the lower levels of our second basemen, but that's not to say that everything is roses. There's a good chance that the entire upper two levels of minors turns over completely by the end of the year (save Watkins, who might actually graduate to the majors by the end of 2013). Filling those gaps will be …
Assume the Position: First Base
First base looks to be quite a bit rosier for the Cubs than catcher does. They Cubs have a budding star at the top and some very intriguing options at the bottom. Last Year 2013 Career Name Age AVG OBP SLG wOBA pwOBA AVG OBP SLG wOBA MLB Rizzo 22 0.285 0.342 0.463 0.349 0.368 0.245 …
It’s time to get excited about the 2013 Cubs
Spring training is just around the corner and the 2013 Cubs are set to kick off their Cactus League schedule on February 23rd. It's a split squad game and the game against the Angels will even be televised on WGN. It's not until April 1st that non-practice games will be played, but it's time to get excited. They might be …
No Geeks Allowed: Sabermetrics on the Field
There are at least a dozen major league teams that gobble up sophisticated analysts from all corners and use them in any way they can conceive of to improve their valuation of personnel. For years, I wished that the Cubs would be one of those teams, and now that they are, I couldn't be happier about it. But it's not …