Spring Training Thread

[Guest]

He won't let anything get in the way of getting Rodon next year

 

The Cubs weren't getting past the Astros for the No. 1 pick short of trading Castro and Rizzo while signing no new free agents.

 

Can we send them to AAA and then have the best farm system in the league? Prospect lists FTW

[davell]

Its not just the Astros. Look at the Marlins, Twins, and Rockies. We're playing for 5th.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Its not just the Astros. Look at the Marlins, Twins, and Rockies. We're playing for 5th.

 

If we get to the fire sale quickly enough, we can get there. It'll take some luck to catch the first two, but I think the Rockies are in our sights.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Bench seems to be:

 

Sappelt, Hairston, Lillibridge, Clevenger, Navarro.

 

I kind of wish we had Lahair back.

[davell]

Has Bogusevic ever played 1B? If so, I'd take him over Clevenger.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Has Bogusevic ever played 1B? If so, I'd take him over Clevenger.

 

He has 40 games of it in the minors.

[Guest]

The cynical, hate-filled part of me wants to note that Stewart has to know he can't get cut in Spring Training while hurt, and if he doesn't get cut in ST, his contract becomes guaranteed.

 

I can't help but note that they didn't actually say what Baker's setback was or what the MRI found. I guess that 85 MPH fastball wasn't nothing.

 

Best case scenario is that he's shut down for a bit, then has to start from scratch again and they'll take it slow. An early June start to the season would be best-case scenario, I'd have to think.

 

Hoyer's finger tightens around the fire-sale trigger.

He won't let anything get in the way of getting Rodon next year

 

Miami and Houston are too formidable.

[Tracer Bullet]

Why 3 Cs?

[XZero771679666304]

Has Bogusevic ever played 1B? If so, I'd take him over Clevenger.

 

He has 40 games of it in the minors.

 

Yeah, I mentioned it earlier this offseason, but I'd prefer Bogusevic to Clevenger as well. He can play first and unlike Clevenger he'd be able to spell Sori against tough RHP. Neither are particularly desirable options, though.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Why 3 Cs?

 

Clevenger would be in more of a 1b/3b/C Tyler Houston mold.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Cardinals released Cedeno today. We need to jump on that.

[Cubswin11]

Cardinals released Cedeno today. We need to jump on that.

I really wouldn't be too against that.

[davell]

Fangraphs just ran a hybrid mix that calculates expected WAR value out of each position for every team in MLB. Unsure whether they attempt pitching as well. The Cubs ranked 24th at C(3.0), 5th at 1B(3.8), 19th at 2B(2.4), 4th at SS(3.8), 29th at 3B(1.8), 17th in LF(2.3), 23rd in CF(2.8) and 21st in RF(1.7). Overall, I didn't count DH in the AL obviously, the Cubs ranked 20th. Interesting notes-the Rockies ranked 1st overall with an expected positional WAR of 31.4. The Mariners actually ranked last at 13.3. The Astros were at 15.3, Marlins at 16.3. We were last in our division, Reds at 29.4(3rd overall), Brewers at 26.6(8th overall), Cards at 25.3(12th), and Pirates at 23.4(15th)

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Fangraphs just ran a hybrid mix that calculates expected WAR value out of each position for every team in MLB. Unsure whether they attempt pitching as well. The Cubs ranked 24th at C(3.0), 5th at 1B(3.8), 19th at 2B(2.4), 4th at SS(3.8), 29th at 3B(1.8), 17th in LF(2.3), 23rd in CF(2.8) and 21st in RF(1.7). Overall, I didn't count DH in the AL obviously, the Cubs ranked 20th. Interesting notes-the Rockies ranked 1st overall with an expected positional WAR of 31.4. The Mariners actually ranked last at 13.3. The Astros were at 15.3, Marlins at 16.3. We were last in our division, Reds at 29.4(3rd overall), Brewers at 26.6(8th overall), Cards at 25.3(12th), and Pirates at 23.4(15th)

 

 

20th for our position players is much better than I would have guessed. #$%@#$ pitching injuries, we might have had a small chance.

[davell]

Yeah, that was my thinking too. I'd think that if we were healthy, our rotation as a whole, would rank upper half. With only a select group of teams being head and shoulders above us.

[Guest]

Fangraphs just ran a hybrid mix that calculates expected WAR value out of each position for every team in MLB. Unsure whether they attempt pitching as well. The Cubs ranked 24th at C(3.0), 5th at 1B(3.8), 19th at 2B(2.4), 4th at SS(3.8), 29th at 3B(1.8), 17th in LF(2.3), 23rd in CF(2.8) and 21st in RF(1.7). Overall, I didn't count DH in the AL obviously, the Cubs ranked 20th. Interesting notes-the Rockies ranked 1st overall with an expected positional WAR of 31.4. The Mariners actually ranked last at 13.3. The Astros were at 15.3, Marlins at 16.3. We were last in our division, Reds at 29.4(3rd overall), Brewers at 26.6(8th overall), Cards at 25.3(12th), and Pirates at 23.4(15th)

 

 

20th for our position players is much better than I would have guessed. #$%@#$ pitching injuries, we might have had a small chance.

 

How many wins is a month of no Garza really going to cost us?

 

I guess if you had high hopes from Baker, but I really saw him as just another one of the back end pile...obviously a little less flexibility/insurance as a result of his uncertainty, though.

[biittner77]

Why 3 Cs?

 

Clevenger would be in more of a 1b/3b/C Tyler Houston mold.

 

Minus the ability to hit

[Hairyducked Idiot]

 

How many wins is a month of no Garza really going to cost us?

 

I guess if you had high hopes from Baker, but I really saw him as just another one of the back end pile...obviously a little less flexibility/insurance as a result of his uncertainty, though.

 

4-6 weeks of Garza, and probably 4 weeks less of Baker than I was counting on, maybe more. That's on the borderline between 1 and 2 wins worth of loss there. Probably 2 when you consider that the bullpen is also weakened by moving two guys to the rotation.

 

Our scenarios all involved getting lucky-hot early and avoiding the sell-off, so 2 losses in the first half hurts a lot.

[Clem Fandango]

Karl Ravech and Curt Schilling discuss the awesomness of Anthony Rizzo

 

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9072334&categoryid=2378529

 

Nothing we don't already know. Ravech compares his baseball acumen to that of Bryce Harper.

[Guest]

i agree with curt, rizzo is clearly a baseball player

[Little Slide Rooter]

@BleacherNation: #Cubs: Looking at the Roster and the Bullpen and Other Bullets http://t.co/IxVCM9d5Yo

 

Apparently Dale Sveum loves Brent Lillibridge. So will Cubs fans no doubt. In Dale's defense, he himself was a noodle-bat utility infielder who got by on hustle and grit rather than talent.

 

I suppose I wouldn't care either way about Brent being our 25th man so much as knowing that the radio waves will be jammed with calls about how he's a real ball player the moment Starlin Castro bobbles his first grounder.

[bhogg]

Dale hit 25 bombs in 87. Ops wasn't all that great but he wasn't a weak hitter. I'm thinking injuries may have gotten h......was thinking he was a fairly high regarded young player.

 

Of course, I'm getting old and forgetful too.

[mul21]

Dale hit 25 bombs in 87. Ops wasn't all that great but he wasn't a weak hitter. I'm thinking injuries may have gotten h......was thinking he was a fairly high regarded young player.

 

Of course, I'm getting old and forgetful too.

 

Yep, and it sounds like it was absolutely awful. Certainly prevented him from ever being a SS again:

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-17/sports/ct-spt-1118-haugh-cubs-chicago--20111118_1_dale-sveum-brewers-manager-tom-trebelhorn-prince-fielder

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Not a surprise, but Sveum said Bowden has made the team.

[Guest]

Levine:

 

Cub camp - Michael Bowden and Dave Sappelt have inside track on roster spots.