Did The Cubs Win? OSS: Cubes strikeout 14 times, and put Russell into the game. Three Up 1. Starlin Castro went 2-4 with a double and a strikeout. 2. Nate Schierholtz walked and doubled in 2 runs. 3. Anthony Rizzo is good, even when he isn’t that good. He went 1-3 with a walk, but still saw 23 pitches, which …
Cubs 5, Diamondbacks 7 (4/24/14)
Did The Cubs Win? OSS: Cubs celebrate 100 years of Wrigley Field in fitting fashion. Three Up 1. Jeff Samardzija was brilliant (again). He deserved to win (again). He didn’t win (again). 2. Hector Rondon has to be the best Rule 5 pick of the past 5 years, right? A short reflection of the past Rule 5 drafts: 2013: too …
Series Preview: Chicago Cubs (3-6) at St. Louis Cardinals (5-4)
Hey, at least the Cubs aren’t in last place in the division (sort of)! Cincy also has a 3-6 record but has a slightly worse run differential. St. Louis is coming off a series win against those Reds, and get to feast on this Cubs team next. Given Matt Adams‘s emergence last season, Allen Craig has moved back to …
Cubs 4, Pirates 5 (4/11/14)
Did the Cubs Win? OSS: James Russell marches onwards towards his ignominious release. Three Up 1. Starlin Castro continues his hot start to the season with a 3 single day. He scored a run and hand an RBI. 2. Travis Wood deserved the win here, but we’ll get to that later. He allowed 1 run (that Schlitter inherited), walked 3, …
Cubs 7, Pirates 8 (4/8/14)
OSS: Despite a heroic performance by Starlin Castro, the Cubs give a winnable game to the Pirates (again). Three Up 1. How could it not be Starlin Castro? A three-run dinger in the 3rd tied it up, and a and a 6th-inning dinger brought the Cubs within 1. All told, Castro went 3-4, 4 RBI, 2 R. It was his …
Quiet Optimism
So, we've got the team. My best guess at the 25-man roster (Wins Above Replacement – Myles): Position Player WARM C Castillo 1.5 1B Rizzo 3.0 2B Valbuena 1.0 SS Castro 2.5 3B Olt 1.0 LF Lake 1.0 CF Sweeney 1.5 RF Schierholtz 1.0 4OF Ruggiano 1.0 5OF Vitters 0.5 UTIL Barney 1.0 UTIL Roberts 0.75 2C Kottaras 0.5 #1 …
Cubs sign Wesley Wright
Last night the Cubs signed Wesley Wright to a 1-year deal just a couple days after being non-tendered. Wright will be paid $1.425 million in 2014. He’s been quite good the last two seasons and this is a good signing for the Cubs. Wright has struckout around 24% of the batters over the last two seasons and walked just under …
2014 Contending Cubs, Part 1: Payroll
I thought it was about time to take a more thorough look at the 2014 Cubs and eventually discuss ways in which they could contend. The first thing to look at is how much money the Cubs may have to spend, which means we need to know how much money they currently have on the books for 2014. Cots Contracts …
Could a Matt Garza trade get done with the Rangers?
A couple days ago it seemed imminent that the Rangers and Cubs were close to a Matt Garza trade. The Rangers number 2 prospect, Mike Olt, was believed to be the center piece of the package. Their number 7 prospect, Luis Sardinas, was also thought to be included, along with Neil Ramirez and CJ Edwards. The Cubs may also have been adding …
Cubs under contract for 2015
With the Anthony Rizzo signing, I thought it'd be sweet to show you the "Cubs Core;" players under team control for 2015 (when we should EXPECT a competitive team instead of just hoping). Anthony Rizzo: 2021 Starlin Castro: 2020 Welington Castillo: 2017 Edwin Jackson: 2016 Luis Valbuena: 2016 Travis Wood: 2016 Darwin Barney: 2016 Jeff Samardzija: 2015 James Russell: 2015 …