On Monday, the Cubs completed the Matt Garza Trade Part II, sending him to the Rangers for C.J. Edwards, Justin Grimm, Mike Olt, and a PTBNL (either Neil Ramirez or presumably two lower-level arms). Olt is a potential power-hitting third baseman with a good glove, though there are questions about his ability to make contact. Edwards is a high-ceiling arm who …
Series Preview: Texas Rangers (8-5) at Chicago Cubs (4-8)
Team Overviews Here are how the teams stacked up in 2012. Respective league ranks in parentheses. Rangers Cubs wRC+ 105 (4th) 80 (16th) BSR 1.0 (8th) -8.1 (14th) UZR 13.7 (5th) 30.5 (2nd) DRS -6 (10th) -7 (7th) SP FIP- 90 (2nd) 108 (13th) RP FIP- 83 (2nd) 116 (16th) The Rangers are a great team. They lost a …
The Cubs Have Tried to Extend Jeff Samardzija Twice
John Heyman passes along a few nuggets today with respect to the Cubs' efforts to extend Jeff Samardzija. JefF7 is three years from free agency, and the Cubs have apparently made two distinct efforts to extend him, to no avail. The two are apparently far enough apart that talks are on hold. We have had some word about this previously, …
World Series Preview: Texas Rangers (96-66) vs St. Louis Cardinals (90-72)
Before we get started, let’s just get this out of the way GUYS, did you know that the World Series isn’t really all that worldy? A bunch of literal people on the Internet are ON IT. (@bkabak) Just another one of those annoying things that pops up at the same point every year, just like the handwringing of national writers …
Series Preview: Tampa Bay Rays (91-71) at Texas Rangers (96-66)
I’m going to write my usual previews for each of the playoff series. I’ll say flat out that I don’t follow the AL at all, so any of you Rays fans who aren’t still in a daze should feel free to chime in with comments/inevitable corrections to anything I say here. Before we get to the Rays, let’s stop and …