I was trying to think of something to write about. I had an idea, looked into it, lost interest and left a brief comment summarizing what I found. I've done this many times over the past 6 to 8 months. Then I had an idea last night that couldn't fail. It's so simple I'm surprised my dumbass hadn't thought about …
2012 in Review: January – When We Were Stupidly Kind of Optimistic About Stuff
2012 was pretty painful to live through as a Cubs fan, and even more so as a Cubs blogger who felt obligated to pay even more attention than is normally considered safe for human beings in an effort to bring you our non-classy, confidence-lacking, reundiscreditationalness that you all expect from us. So we're going to make you re-live the pain all …
Cubs pitchers kwERA since 2000 and Happy Christmas
The other day GW wrote an article after Edwin Jackson signed with the Cubs. I was curious why he thought 2012 was a down season and I should have known. GW only looks at strikeouts and walks (and groundball rate). The reason for this is simple: Strikeouts and walks have proven to be very accurate predictors of future ERA. FIP …
An updated look at the 2013 rotation
The Cubs finalized contracts with Edwin Jackson and Carlos Villanueva today, which gives the Cubs something like 18 starters. I lost count. The good news is that Edwin Jackson is actually good unlike the other 22 starters they signed this offseason. Jackson has been underrated for some time and that's in part to how miserably he performed when he reached …
Edwin Jackson Signs
Patrick Mooney was first with the news, and the usual suspects seem to be in agreement, though we at Obstructed View reserve the right to retract any and all free agent signing stories up until opening day. The deal is 4 years, $52 million and does not include a no-trade clause, per Heyman. Brief thoughts on the deal, in the …
Carlos Villanueva's contract and Edwin Jackson
The Cubs signed Carlos Villanueva to a contract last night. We didn't know the terms of the contract and I felt about the contract similarly to Myles. If I were a betting man, I'd say this is a one year deal for around $4.5 million, with an option year at $6 or so. That seems reasonable to me for a …
Carlos Villanueva, Scott Baker and Scott Feldman combine to make one slightly below average starting pitcher
The Cubs have gone a little nutty in signing as many back-end of the rotation starters as they can find. They grabbed Scott Feldman who would be the worst starter in many rotations and the Cubs rotation is no different. They did sign Scott Baker though he's coming back from injury so we have temper expectations. Then they signed Carlos …
Edwin Jackson, come on down (please)
News broke today that the Cubs and the Rangers are the final two suitors in the Edwin Jackson regretstravaganza, after the failed pursuit of Anibal Sanchez last week. Now, reports are indicating that the Rangers will not be the high bid. The reported figures are somewhere in the 4 to 5 year range at around 12 to 13 per. If …
Dodger are listening to offers for Andre Ethier
Word came out a day or two ago that the Dodgers were shopping Andre Ethier. It was then corrected that they were only listening to offers, but now there's a report that the Dodgers are interested in Michael Bourn or Nick Swisher, but first must trade Ethier. Ethier is owed $85 million over the next 5 years and will be …
5 levels of Cubs involvement
Hi. I'm AC, AndCounting for long, and I am a Cubs blogger. It's been two months since my last post. I stayed clean for as long as I could, but I decided that it was time to get off the wagon. Or on the wagon. Or on the bandwagon. Or onto the main wagon where they let the real fans …