The Cubs have avoided arbitration with another of their players. Last week they re-signed Luis Valbuena and they have now reached an agreement with Matt Garza for $10.25 million. Cubs right-hander Matt Garza avoided arbitration and agreed to a new $10.25 million contract on Thursday. Garza's representatives at CAA announced the new deal on Twitter: "#Cubs Matt Garza (@Gdeuceswild) agrees …
Get Out Your ‘It’s Gonna Happen’ Signs and DeRosa Shirseys, It’s Cubs Convention Time!
It's that time again! Every winter, the Cubs gather their current players, management, and any ex-players for whom they have blackmail material and trot them out like showdogs for their fans in a massive effort to "build their brand" or "polish the turd." Yes, the Cubs Convention is tomorrow and the Cubs have been very busy planning how best to shovel massive …
How good is Anthony Rizzo?
Not long after the Cubs hired Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, the two traded Andrew Cashner and Kyung-Min Na to the Padres for Anthony Rizzo and Zach Cates. Rizzo had just completed his age 21 season with the Padres and to say it didn't go well would be putting it nicely. Still, he had hit well in the minor leagues …
Sammy Sosa Would Like You to Remember He Once Hit a Lot of Homeruns and You Loved Him
As a Cubs blogger, I think I'm going to have to get down on my knees and thank the good Lord that Sammy Sosa has joined us in the social media world. We've seen his Pinterest page and his Twitter account. He also has a Facebook page littered with the same awesome yellow-sweatered photos as his Pinterest (which @harrypav pointed …
The 2012 Free Agency Team
This has been a pretty bare year for free agency. Aside from Greinke and Hamilton, there haven’t really been the impact talents available like in previous years. That’s only going to get worse. However, there is something interesting to note. For under $150 million, a GM could have signed an entire 25-man roster out of free agents and won over …
Daily Facepalm – 1.13.12
Good teammate To the surprise of no rational Cubs fan here or elsewhere, Alfonso Soriano is a good teammate. During his time in Chicago, Theo Epstein has come to realize what a tremendous teammate Soriano is and how willing he is to help younger players. Epstein considers Soriano an excellent clubhouse presence, and after a 32-homer, 108-RBI season, the Cubs …
When is a win worth more?
I was thinking about Michael Bourn this morning, because I need psychiatric help. It kind of struck me that the Cubs could use Bourn more than most other teams… but taking a common approach to free agency, we shouldn’t be offering him more money than any other team (Bourn’s worth is more or less a constant), especially because we are …
Rethinking Pitching Philosophies, Derek Johnson, and Carlos Gomez
Cubs Den has a post up drawing attention to a Baseball America article on changes in the Cubs’ organizational philosophy related to developing pitching talent. The BA piece focuses on new pitching coordinator Derek Johnson, formerly the pitching coach at Vanderbilt, which famously produced David Price, Mike Minor, Sonny Gray, and many others on his watch. Johnson is of the …
Even Greg Maddux May Have Trouble Getting Into the Hall of Fame Next Year
Recently, we’ve talked in the comments a little about how much harder it is going to be to get anybody into the Hall of Fame in future ballots because the BBWAA has clogged it up with very legitimate candidates. I’ve seen expectations here and elsewhere that Maddux will get in for sure next year. Normally, I’d agree that he, at …
Sammy Sosa’s Pinterest Page is Exactly What You’d Expect Sammy Sosa’s Pinterest Page to Be
Sammy Sosa has a pinterest page (and Twitter). I heard rumors about it this morning and then I saw Deadspin’s post that it has been confirmed as him. Nothing but a wall of photos of Sosa posing in his home. There’s Sammy in a suit! There’s Sammy in a nice sweater! So carefree! So happy! And every single photo has …