AlwaysaCub

We also have a spot for Manny at Assistant Hitting Coach. This could also be why Mueller feels undermined, as others have alluded to.

Shin-Soo Choo could be a huge asset to the Cubs. Wrigley's small center field allows average-minus defenders with decent offensive skills to be plus players. He's currently hitting .283/.418/.460. Even with an OBP reduction, say .270/.380/.440, Choo would add several marginal wins next year. And in 2014. those wins will be both quantitatively and qualitatively valuable for this org. Just as importantly, Chu plugs a serious hole, given the on turrible on-base skills of the current roster. Theo/Jed have repeatedly commented about the lack of patience on this team. Given that payroll, which to all appearance means surplus cash, I'd be surprised if the FO didn't go after him.

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/buster-olney/post/_/id/2607 From Buster Olney Just when you thought we had something, Lake gets trumped by BO HART.

...and the Cubs are still 6-8 games under .500, but have managed to push their run differential to +16 or +22, maintaining their losing record through a series of Cub-like occurrences. Does this front office buy, sell, or hold? Would you buy, sell, or hold?

At this point, for Valbuena, do you all think Theo/Jed should sell "high" on his success - though he's fallen off slightly recently - or hang on to him as a potential solution at 3b? He's an average-plus defender at 3rd, and as a hitter has shown pretty good secondary skills, but questionable ability to hit for average. .250 is his best season average so far in his career, and he's basically there right now. He's looking to have a 2.5-3 WAR season if his playing time holds and his AVG doesn't fluctuate. But he's playing at a pace equivalent over a full healthy season to about 25 double, 20 homers and 70-80 walks. Of course, he has barely flashed hints of those kinds of abilities before this year Valbuena won't become a free agent until 2017. He could net a healthy return if someone were to put too much weight into his recent success.

It makes me feel old that the following people are appearing on the ballot this year: ronDL white kenny lofton todd "superman" walker sandy alomar jr royce clayton reggie sanders jeff conine It makes me feel young that the following people are appearing on the ballot this year, for the first time: Julio Franco

If I'm the Cubs, the Dodgers, etc. I am quite unpleased that I am forced to send money to the Marlins that they then pocket instead of putting into the org. Revenue sharing only exists for competitive balance, and furthermore NO ONE turns on the TV to watch the Marlins, but they get money for both. IMO there should be a rule that a team's total expenditure (MLB, MiLB, FO) should have to be greater than the sum of the money that team gets from the league pot.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove12/story/_/id/8516612/ranking-josh-hamilton-zack-greinke-rest-top-50-free-agents-mlb ESPN Insider link to Keith Law's top 50 free agents. Apologies if someone posted this earlier. Anyway, here's part of the Haren blurb (Law has hinted at this article all week on twitter, so it's unlikely he wrote it post the non-trade news): K.Law ranks Haren as the #7 free agent, but put Kyle Lohse one spot higher.

What if this is about Haren's stark loss of velocity this past season? You'd be crying more foul if Haren proved to be damaged goods next April (Not that Marmol is anything but damaged goods at this point)

fWAR >>>>>> bWAR Okay, his fWAR for past 5 seasons: 5.8 1.0 2.2 2.9 -0.9 Why should this guy be an NRI after 1 bad season? Some team was going to sign him for $7m+ if his option wasn't picked up. The Royals probably expect substantial inflation in salaries this offseason. Plus where else are the Royals going to get pitching? Everyone needs it.

Ervin Santana bWAR over past 5 seasons: 4.8 -0.3 2.5 2.7 -1.6 Yeah he had a terrible 2012, but his track record isn't nearly that bad. Plus, the $13m salary for 2013 may look much more palatable after this winter. Every team has cash to burn.

This. Ethier realistically may have to move to 1st within the next 3 years. Plus RF at Wrigley is a tough field.

The Giants need to win this World Series. This is the 1908 series matchup that should have been - Giants vs Tigers - and these two teams have not matched up since. So by winning, the Giants will finally release the soul of Fred Merkle from its torment of the Cubs. Giants in 7.

Way too much kindness, yes.

Kozma couldn't even make a good 5 foot flip on that double play ball.