Random Cubs Musings

[davell]

I'm as frustrated as anyone about the offseason, expect a Hammel, plus maybe a decent non roster type, to be added to the rotation before we head to camp.

 

We're not going to be good, at least it's not likely. But we ARE going to be very interesting. As I've documented in other posts, there are plenty of things to watch individually.

 

In the end, I DO see a selloff again at midseason. My prediction is Shark, Russell, Villanueva, Schierholtz, and Barney get moved. But I do NOT see a 2nd half tank job. I don't think we're a .500 team, but I think 75 wins is realistic. And I think we'll be in solid shape to add major pieces for 2015.

[Guest]

I really, really want Josh Vitters to make the team out of ST. Beyond that, it'd be cool to have at least one young player surprise everyone and earn a job, even if it's just Olt at 3b (which I guess isn't a surprise, but still).

 

I really wonder what Epstein and Hoyer want out of this season. Do they want to show progress, flirt with .500 and build some buzz and maybe even sell some tickets? Or do they want draft position again? Do they want to stay in the protected pick zone, or do they not plan on getting any major FAs so it doesn't matter?

 

What is it in human nature that makes us love guys like Hendricks with no velocity but good command?

 

I really expect nothing from Jake Arrieta. If I never have to hear "upside" or "ceiling" in reference to a 27+ guy again, I would be happy.

 

There is a very high probability that this is the season we see Javier Baez hit his first HR as a Cub.

 

These next few months almost certainly represent rock bottom. I think it remains to be seen whether the peak will be as high as we hope, but it is uphill after this.

 

I harbor no such love. In fact, I'll take Rick Vaughn over that every time.

[Cubswin11]

I'm as frustrated as anyone about the offseason, expect a Hammel, plus maybe a decent non roster type, to be added to the rotation before we head to camp.

 

We're not going to be good, at least it's not likely. But we ARE going to be very interesting. As I've documented in other posts, there are plenty of things to watch individually.

 

In the end, I DO see a selloff again at midseason. My prediction is Shark, Russell, Villanueva, Schierholtz, and Barney get moved. But I do NOT see a 2nd half tank job. I don't think we're a .500 team, but I think 75 wins is realistic. And I think we'll be in solid shape to add major pieces for 2015.

If all those guys get moved I don't see them getting close to 75 wins

[Guest]

I'm as frustrated as anyone about the offseason, expect a Hammel, plus maybe a decent non roster type, to be added to the rotation before we head to camp.

 

We're not going to be good, at least it's not likely. But we ARE going to be very interesting. As I've documented in other posts, there are plenty of things to watch individually.

 

In the end, I DO see a selloff again at midseason. My prediction is Shark, Russell, Villanueva, Schierholtz, and Barney get moved. But I do NOT see a 2nd half tank job. I don't think we're a .500 team, but I think 75 wins is realistic. And I think we'll be in solid shape to add major pieces for 2015.

If all those guys get moved I don't see them getting close to 75 wins

 

I was puzzled by that too.

 

Only thing I can think he means is that he thinks Javy and Bryant will be up and going straight beast mode in the second half.

[davell]

I'm as frustrated as anyone about the offseason, expect a Hammel, plus maybe a decent non roster type, to be added to the rotation before we head to camp.

 

We're not going to be good, at least it's not likely. But we ARE going to be very interesting. As I've documented in other posts, there are plenty of things to watch individually.

 

In the end, I DO see a selloff again at midseason. My prediction is Shark, Russell, Villanueva, Schierholtz, and Barney get moved. But I do NOT see a 2nd half tank job. I don't think we're a .500 team, but I think 75 wins is realistic. And I think we'll be in solid shape to add major pieces for 2015.

If all those guys get moved I don't see them getting close to 75 wins

 

I was puzzled by that too.

 

Only thing I can think he means is that he thinks Javy and Bryant will be up and going straight beast mode in the second half.

 

I'm figuring we hover remotely close to .500(within 7-9 games) and sell off late in July. I see no dropoff in losing Russell or Villanueva and a gain moving from Barney to Javy and from Schierholtz to KB. Losing Shark and going to Hendricks is a dropoff, but I can see playing within 5-7 games of .500 over the last 2 months. Which puts us at somewhere between 12-16 games under .500 for the year.

 

Buth yeah, I do feel as if Javy and KB both get 60 games in the majors and do very well in their stint.

[hankp101]

Didn't we lose Hendricks to claim the Yankees reliever not long after we claimed Hendricks, or am I thinking of someone else?

 

 

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[Hairyducked Idiot]

Didn't we lose Hendricks to claim the Yankees reliever not long after we claimed Hendricks, or am I thinking of someone else?

 

 

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That was Liam Hendriks. We still have the slightly better Kyle Hendricks.

[hankp101]

Ah, got it. Thanks

 

 

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[Guest]

Interesting:

 

@sahadevsharma: Cubs dot com indicates some additions under Chris Moore in R&D: Jeremy Greenhouse (analyst) & Sean Ahmed (assistant). Congrats to them both

[Guest]

Interesting:

 

@sahadevsharma: Cubs dot com indicates some additions under Chris Moore in R&D: Jeremy Greenhouse (analyst) & Sean Ahmed (assistant). Congrats to them both

 

 

??

[Gilby]

Hopefully nobody bought a Welington Castillo jersey after his good season. Looks like he changed his number to 5.

[Banedon]

Former major league pitcher Carlos Zambrano was involved in a bench-clearing brawl during Game 3 of the Venezuelan Winter League championship series on Saturday night. After Zambrano's Navegantes del Magallanes teammate got hit by a pitch in the sixth inning, he charged out of the mound and went after the opposing pitcher as both benches emptied out onto the field.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/27/carlos-zambrano-brawl-venezuela_n_4673812.html

[Old Style]

Oh, Big Z.

[jersey cubs fan]

If any other player charged the mound after a teammate got beaned in a Venezuelan League game, would anybody make note?

[Guest]

If any other player charged the mound after a teammate got beaned in a Venezuelan League game, would anybody make note?

ARod.

 

Pretty much any "notorious" player would have this make news in their city's news.

[Guest]

So I saw a Tweet about Kurt Russell having hit .563 in AA in the 70s which led me to finding out that Matt Franco, whose existence I had completely forgotten, is his nephew.

 

And just now I found this lol

 

http://woolis.com/images/Vintage/Russell16-1.JPG

[Soul]

That's great

[Guest]

Cubs spring training TV schedule

 

Here's the complete list of CSN Chicago games:

 

--Sunday, March 16 vs. CLE

--Monday, March 17 vs. LAA

--Thursday, March 20 vs. SEA

--Tuesday, March 25 vs. LAA

--Friday, March 28 vs. ARI (6:40 p.m.)

--Saturday, March 29 vs. ARI (1:10 p.m.)

 

In addition, there will be four games on WGN TV (Thursday, Feb. 27, Saturday March 15, Saturday March 22, Sunday March 23).

 

10 games in total.

 

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/csn-will-air-six-cubs-spring-training-games-march

[Hairyducked Idiot]

If we stipulate a pitching matchup of Kyle Hendricks vs. Villanueva or Rusin, would the April 2014 Iowa Cubs be favored over the April 2014 MLB Cubs?

[Guest]

 

Brett posted this on FB. From SI.

[Benny Rodriguez]

I'm as frustrated as anyone about the offseason, expect a Hammel, plus maybe a decent non roster type, to be added to the rotation before we head to camp.

 

We're not going to be good, at least it's not likely. But we ARE going to be very interesting. As I've documented in other posts, there are plenty of things to watch individually.

 

In the end, I DO see a selloff again at midseason. My prediction is Shark, Russell, Villanueva, Schierholtz, and Barney get moved. But I do NOT see a 2nd half tank job. I don't think we're a .500 team, but I think 75 wins is realistic. And I think we'll be in solid shape to add major pieces for 2015.

If all those guys get moved I don't see them getting close to 75 wins

 

I was puzzled by that too.

 

Only thing I can think he means is that he thinks Javy and Bryant will be up and going straight beast mode in the second half.

 

we were just projected to have the worst record in baseball without a sell-off.

 

I'm figuring we hover remotely close to .500(within 7-9 games) and sell off late in July. I see no dropoff in losing Russell or Villanueva and a gain moving from Barney to Javy and from Schierholtz to KB. Losing Shark and going to Hendricks is a dropoff, but I can see playing within 5-7 games of .500 over the last 2 months. Which puts us at somewhere between 12-16 games under .500 for the year.

 

Buth yeah, I do feel as if Javy and KB both get 60 games in the majors and do very well in their stint.

[Guest]

Yep, it's neely all right.

[Benny Rodriguez]

I'm as frustrated as anyone about the offseason, expect a Hammel, plus maybe a decent non roster type, to be added to the rotation before we head to camp.

 

We're not going to be good, at least it's not likely. But we ARE going to be very interesting. As I've documented in other posts, there are plenty of things to watch individually.

 

In the end, I DO see a selloff again at midseason. My prediction is Shark, Russell, Villanueva, Schierholtz, and Barney get moved. But I do NOT see a 2nd half tank job. I don't think we're a .500 team, but I think 75 wins is realistic. And I think we'll be in solid shape to add major pieces for 2015.

If all those guys get moved I don't see them getting close to 75 wins

 

We were just projected to have the worst record in baseball for 2014 without the sell off.

I think 75 with no notable additions is not realistic at all. We are coming off 66 wins, I don't see how what we added, compared to what we lost, adds up to 10 more wins even before the sell-off

 

Not surprisingly we are projected for the worst offense in the league

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The roster I'm rooting to emerge out of ST, assuming we sign some lame veteran 5th starter like we apparently want to:

 

Vitters/Sweeney/Schierholtz (Ruggiano/Lake)

Olt/Castro/Barney/Rizzo (Valbuena, Watkins)

Castillo (Kottaras)

 

Samardzija/Wood/Jackson/Arrieta/LameVet

Veras/Wright/Rusin/Strop/Villanueva/Rondon/Cabrera

 

Semi-related: The back half of the 40-man is starting to pile up nicely with interesting guys. It's getting harder to find obvious cuts, although there are still a few.

 

Injuries are going to take care of some of it, but I don't know how the heck we're going to cut the pitching down to 12 guys. We've got like 25 who should deserve MLB consideration.

[Cubswin11]

No Russell?