Position players report to spring training today Speaking of which, Mets manager Terry Collins is bitching yet again about players not reporting earlier than their report date. Pouliot summed it up well in the post And that’s just not right. MLB and the MLBPA negotiated reporting deadlines for a reason, and no player should be pressured to show up early. …
“You better know who your ninth starter’s going to be”
I’ve been a bit confused by one of Theo’s comments since taking over as President of Baseball Operations. “We need starting pitching. You can’t take your chances very seriously as a club if you go in to the season without, not just five guys you can point to, but six, seven and eight guys. You better know who your ninth …
What the Cubs have to consider at the Winter Meetings
We haven’t talked a lot about what the Cubs need to do this offseason. When the season ended they were without a GM so it made no sense. After they hired Theo and he assembled his front office it was difficult to know which direction the Cubs may go. There have been indications they’re willing to trade anybody and everybody, …
Series Preview: St. Louis Cardinals (90-72) vs Philadelphia Phillies (102-60)
St. Louis squeaked its way into the playoffs thanks to a late-season collapse by the Braves. Again, I find it crazy that there are 2 NL Central teams in the playoffs. Team Overviews Team stats, with NL rank in parentheses Cardinals Phillies wOBA .332 (1st) .316 (6th) UBR 4.0 (5th) -5.7 (14th) UZR -29.8 (15th) -10 (9th) DRS -13 (11th) …
Series Preview: Oklahoma City Redhawks of Houston (51-98) at Iowa Cubs of Chicago (65-85)
Can’t yoiu just feel the excitement in this matchup? There’s a good chance that the Cubs will be the team to push the Astros over the 100-loss threshold this weekend, just in time for their banishment to the time zone abyss of the AL West. Maybe the Cubs can even pass the Pirates, which completely validates the season, saves Cuey’s …
Carlos Zambrano Kept On Truckin'
Sometimes the lights all shinin on me Carlos Zambrano earned a cup of coffee in 2001 and then earned his spot in the 2003 rotation with his half-season of MLB work in 2002. Mark Prior and Kerry Wood were all anyone could talk about and Carlos Zambrano was quietly, and impressively, going about his business and becoming one of the …
Series Preview: Iowa Cubs (24-36) at Philadelphia Phillies (37-25)
It’s too bad the Cubs didn’t lose last night, because this series could have easily pushed the losing streak to thirteen. Of course, despite that we’ll probably see the Cubs win the series by beating both Halladay and Lee and suddenly think they’re contenders, trading Brett Jackson and Trey Mcnutt in a three-team deal to acquire Veterans Who Know How …
NL Central Questions & Answers: Houston Astros
Prior to the start of the season we’re going to be previeing the other NL Central teams in two ways. First, Berselius will post the team’s projections for 2011 and then later in the day we’re going to post an interview with one of the team’s bloggers. Today’s Q&A is with Timothy DeBlock of Crawfish Boxes. Obstructed View: There are …
NL Central preview: Houston Astros
Last Year: The Astros started off the year with eight straight losses, and were sitting at 17 games below .500 at the all-star break. However, they turned things around somewhat in the second half of the season, going 40-33 despite trading co-faces of the franchise Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt at the trade deadline. Much like the Pirates the Astros …