The rumors surrounding teams interested in Matt Garza have been around for a long time. Every year teams have inquired on his availability so it’s no surprise he’s once again the target of trade speculation. Ken Rosenthal reported yesterday that teams were also interested in Sean Marshall. The Cubs are set to undergo a rebuilding project that will likely take …
Kerry Wood wants a raise, but is he deserving of one?
Jon Paul Morosi tweeted that Kerry Wood would like a raise. My first thought was this: why would the Cubs give him a raise if his only other option is to retire? Wood has said he’ll retire or play for the Cubs so I see no reason to offer more money than the $1.5 million he earned last year. My …
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, …
Compensation for Theo Epstein
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote that the compensation talks between the Red Sox and Cubs were set to begin soon. Apparently Ben Cherington has already been told he will be the new GM so Theo is gone from the Sox one way or another as I expected. There’s no take back here. While it’s been suggested here that …
Theo is a Cub so what next?
When the reports of Theo Epstein signing with the Cubs began to trickle in this morning (or actually last night), I started thinking about what it means in the short-term for the Cubs. The truth is that I, and you, have literally no idea. I wrote this before reading Aisle 424’s most recent article so there may be some similarities. …
A thought or two about Carlos Marmol
I didn’t make it a secret that I thought the Cubs 3-year extension given to Carlos Marmol last offseason wasn’t a wise decision. Despite that, I made it clear that Marmol was not being paid like an elite reliever and was worth the contract at the time it was signed. This was true even if you consider the discount that …
Offseason Preview: Trade Candidates
Without even knowing what the Cubs general plan is going to be this offseason, it’s very difficult to look ahead to the offseason with any confidence of what they may do. They could decide to go all in and go after guys like Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder and CC Sabathia. They could pass on all of them and stand …
Is Sean Marshall the best reliever on the Cubs?
I know I’m not the first person to ask this question and with Carlos Marmol‘s recent meltdown, probably not even the first to ask it in the last few days. We can ignore the recent meltdown altogether and focus on the last two years instead. I chose the last two years because it’s quite clear Sean Marshall became a different …
The Cubs and their trade deadline decisions
Last week we had a heated debate and/or argument on here about the decisions the Cubs made about not trading certain players. I wanted to write something about this immediately, but wanted to collect my thoughts and not let emotion guide me. I also wanted to make sure I hadn’t just planted my feet and was arguing something just to …
2012 NL Central Champion Cubs, part 3
Wreckard took a look at how the 2007 Cubs improved compared to the 2006 team and what kind of improvements this current team would need to make for next year. In the first part of this series. we took a look at payroll and named several players the Cubs should keep if they plan to contend next season. The second part …