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 …
A closer look at Josh Vitters
We've already taken a closer look at Brett Jackson so let's now take a closer look at Josh Vitters. He had about the worst imaginable start to his big league career in 2012. Vitters hit .121/.193/.202 over 109 plate appearances. His wRC+ late in the year had dipped to something like -12 and after a hot stretch Vitters managed to …
Cubs Sign Scott Hairston
The Cubs have come to an agreement with outfielder Scott Hairston on a two year deal that could be worth up to six million dollars. The signing was originally reported by Ken Rosenthal and has since been confirmed by Bruce Levine. 2013 will be Hairston's 33 year old season. His career has consisted of mostly part-time work, first with Diamondbacks, …
Assume the Position: Catcher
We are getting very close to catchers and pitchers reporting. We might have one or two moves of significance until that point, but I'm going to assume that our team is essentially what we have in front of us. That being said, I'm going to take a broad look at every position to seem what we have there, both now …
Darwin Barney: regresssion candidate
Darwin Barney was among the 9 candidates Baseball Prospectus highlighted today in their Regression Candidates article. I think it goes without saying that Barney is likely to regress, but I'm sure a lot of Cubs fans don't agree with that. I really don't know that I actually think Barney will decline this season, but I do think he'll be one …
A closer look at Brett Jackson
A lot of things have been said and written about him over the last year so I thought a closer look at Brett Jackson was appropriate. We'll also take a closer look at Josh Vitters later on. Brett Jackson has come to be defined by his strikeouts and will continue to be defined that way until he shows he can …
Better Know a Cub: Lendy Castillo
I actually like Lendy Castillo a fair bit. Lendy Castillo was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2006… as a shortstop. He actually showed considerable promise on the defensive side, but could not hit to save his life. 2007: 684 OPS 2008: 566 OPS 2009: 453 OPS After it was apparently there was no way he was going to hack …
The Next Generation of Cub Players and Plate Discipline
The Cubs Convention took place this past weekend. OV's own Aisle424 was present and will summarize his thoughts on it shortly (I think). In the meantime, Josh has already weighed in. Bruce Miles was all over the goings-on, as well, and his twitter feed is well worth checking out. A couple of highlights: Sveum: Campana "has a really hard time …
Cubs signed Jeff Samardzija and James Russell
It was reported yesterday that the Cubs signed Jeff Samardzija and James Russell to avoid arbitration. The Cubs signed Matt Garza yesterday and earlier this week they signed Luis Valbuena. Those were the only four players the Cubs had eligible for arbitration. The Jeff Samardzija contract is worth $2.64 million and they signed James Russell for $1.075 million. Totals for …