With news that the Cubs have tried to extend Jeff Samardzija beyond his arbitration eligible seasons not once, but twice, I thought it might be a good idea to look into how much he's worth. Steamer projects 2.4 WAR and ZiPS projects 3.3. You can see these yourself on Fangraphs. Let's just split the difference and go with 2.9. Samardzija …
2013 Cubs Projections: Starlin Castro
Before we get to Starlin Castro's 2013 Cubs Projections, I wanted to talk a little bit about something else in regard to Castro. An awful lot has been written about Starlin Castro over his young career. It seems that most of this has been at the two extremes. We've heard and read countless times about how Castro is a future …
2013 Cubs Projections: Ian Stewart and Luis Valbuena
Our 2013 Cubs Projections series continues with a look at 3rd base. The starting job is Ian Stewart's according to Dale Sveum, which leaves Luis Valbuena as a back-up, but even that job may be in question. It's hard to see both Valbuena and Brent Lillibridge making the roster. I wrote a little bit about Ian Stewart a couple weeks …
2013 Cubs Projections: Darwin Barney
Continuing our series, it's time to look at the 2013 Cubs Projections for Darwin Barney. Last spring Barney talked about hitting for more power. We knew he wouldn't be a power hitter or anything, but it was clear he and the Cubs wanted him to hit for a little more than he had. He did to some extent. He hit …
2013 Cubs projections: Anthony Rizzo
A little over a week ago, we started our 2013 Cubs projections series by looking at Welington Castillo. The plan is to just go from catcher to 1st to 2nd and so on. Up today is Anthony Rizzo. For more than half a decade the Cubs got a .385 wOBA out of their 1st baseman. Derrek Lee was traded midseason …
2013 Cubs ZiPS Projections
The Cubs ZiPS projections for 2013 are available on Fangraphs now. The Cubs are projected by ZiPS to have, in shortstop Starlin Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo, to have a pair of basically All Star-type players who are also just 23 years old. Those are good kinds of players to have — especially for a team that isn’t likely …
How much is Ryan Dempster's Trade Value?
Ryan Dempster entered the 2012 season in the final year of his contract. He was coming off season in which his ERA had ballooned to 4.80, but his FIP and xFIP were in line with what he'd done as a starter since 2008. His FIP was 3.91 and he had an xFIP of 3.70. The projections had him at a …
Does Alfonso Soriano have any trade value?
The simple answer to this question is that he does not have any trade value, but simple isn't good enough. That's especially true when you're talking about a player who is still owed $43.5 million through the end of 2014. The Cubs tried hard this offseason to find some team interested in taking him and didn't have much luck. We …
Projecting the 2012 Cubs: Michael Bowden
Yesterday the Cubs traded Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox for Michael Bowden and a player to be named later. Bowden was drafted in the 1st round (47th overall) in 2005. He was the last of the 5 draft picks the Red Sox had in the 1st round that year. In 2006 Bowden established himself as one of the best …
Marlon Byrd is not a .091 hitter, and other observations about slumps and trade value – UPDATED
We're all disappointed by the production so far of many of the Cubs offensive players, most notably Marlon Byrd and Geovany Soto. Byrd has a wOBA of .091 on the season, and Geo has a .232 wOBA which looks much better by comparison (still not great). The slow starts for both players have led to much complaining on the hypertweetoblogosphere …