Cubs Fan Dan

A backup at best for a potential decent reliever. I do not have a problem with this.

I swear DeWitt is Todd Walker's long lost younger brother. Hopefully he produces like Todd Walker this year.

Don't make us punch you. You and the mouse in your pocket? It was a joke. We all know toothpick was responsible.

:banghead: damn goat!

In 10 years the Yankees may be paying a reliever 30 million per year to setup, Pujols could be a bargain!

If the Cubs ending coming out ahead with Young's salary without giving up much in prospects I am fine with trading for Young as him at 2B would help the lineup quite a bit. I also think that if the Rangers eat a decent portion of Young's contract it makes him tradeable after this season with only having 2 years left on his deal. The Soriano / Young swap would be great but if anything does happen I would see a package of Silva and Fukudome being more realistic. At this point though the only person even saying the Cubs are interested is Phil Rogers so I am not sure why I am wasting energy talking about this.

I love MLB network but their rankings are stupid, the fact that the analyst that present the show do not even agree with these rankings is pretty bad. Soto should have been between 4-7 on the list, i personally would have had him at 5th. Picking Molina, Santana, Buck, Wieters and Ruiz over Soto is BS. Posey is also another guy who has to do it over a full season to earn a higher rank if you ask me.

Yes it is! If I am lucky I can get sex in december, this does not happen in december! Soto look even more ripped to anyone else?

You mean mediocrely? BS... he had 8 straight starts of 6 IP or more to end the season. He deserves a shot. Coleman was 4-2 as a starter with a 3.33 ERA and 1.35 WHIP. He did go 6+ in 8 starts straight as stated, he deserves to be looked at as a competitor for the rotation. However if Silva is healthy I do not think it matters as I think the Cubs will give him a shot to start the season as a the 5th starter, if he sucks they may release him. I do not see them releasing him as some have speculated until he proves he is of no worth to this team. I would honeslty not be suprised to see Cashner and Coleman start at AAA in the rotation.

Wait will you run on the field immediately? Because if so I will just immediately change the channel when the ball leaves the yard.

This does not need to branch in to a Colvin conversation but Colvin's power seemed pretty real, do you just think he cannot make enough contact? Just curious because If he is given 450+ AB's i see 25 homers as something he can reach.

If the Cubs get Pujols PECOTA will project the Cubs at 65 wins. I would rather have Fielder at 8yrs 200mil than Pujols at 8-10 years 240-300. I would take the chance on Fielder's weight over Pujols's age and eventually finding out he was a roider.

That deal would not net Liriano... If he is truly out there the Twins could net Montero from the Yankees. It will take 3 top prospects plus a 4th decent prospect minimum.

I could see Rammy's option being picked up in Vitters proves he is only another year away. Out of that list though I would only keep my eye on Cantu, Bautista and Encarnacion. I think there are a lot of variables that will play into it, DeWitt could possibly slide over if needed. If Colvin's power is legit and the Cubs do land a big 1B(Fielder, Pujols) I could possibly see the Cubs sacrificing offense in the IF. My guess if Rammy has a good season he is back for one more year.

I really hope Quade gives Byrd more rest, he really showed fatigue near the end of the season and OPS'd under .700 in the 2nd half. With his leg histories I think playing CF takes a toll on him over the length of the season. 152 was the most he ever played. I do not know why I just have a good feeling about DeWitt putting up a couple of Todd Walker like seasons.

I would trade Cashner for Liriano in a heartbeat. The Cubs have a lot of draft picks coming up and if a lot of minor league talent can be found internationally I would trade just about any 3 players for Liriano, prefferring to keep Jackson if possible. Wells seems like a Twins type of pitcher could he be of interest? Garza Liriano :good: Zambrano Dempster Wells/Silva/Colemn/Whocares That would be a fun rotation to watch.

Preliminary Pecota standings had the Cubs at 70 wins. Am I wrong to believe there is little likelihood the Cubs will be worse than last year? The pitching staff is going to be better, the lineup "should" be better, the bullpen should be slightly better, and the bench and defense should be similar. It is also a pretty safe bet the Cubs will not go 12-23 versus the Astros and Pirates. I do not see this team finishing below .500, as I like to see them underrated after looking at all the projections I think the Cubs are being vastly underrated this season. They have many players with a lot to prove but the ability is definitely there.

I would sign up for this lottery and buy what I can get whether going or not, anyone of these tickets are going to be premium mark ups. That being said I am praying for a chance to get any of the Cubs games so I can make the trip.

My thoughts / predictions. If i were to take a chance on calling a player a breakout to me it is Blake DeWitt. I know previous numbers do not support his but I see Rudy helping him become a solid major league starter, I think DeWitt has a chance to be a solid player in the likes of Todd Walker. My prediction is a line similar to this: .280/.335/.455 12-14 hr's 60-70rbi's. Rammy and Pena are the biggest question. I believe they are both going to bounce back i would expect Rammy to go back towards .285/.365/.500 line and Pena .240/.360/.490. I think the Cubs seriously need to keep an eye on Byrd's playing time, he played more last year than ever before and fatigue started to show near the end of last season, especially in the power numbers. I have more faith in Colvin than most. In no way do I think he develops into a start but I do believe his power is legitimate and he has solid contact skills... If he gets 400-450 AB's I do not see .260/.320/.490 or better out of the possibility with a slim chance of a true breakout campaign. To me other than Ramirez and Pena the key to the lineup is Soto. He continues to be pushed aside as a key hitter because of health. If he can be in the likeup 460-500 times the Cubs will not hesitate to consider him in the 3-4-5-6 part of their lineup. But if he injuries keep him limited to under 400 AB's Qaude will most likely keep him lower in the order. A healthy Soto is a lock for .275/.380/.500 and would easily approach 25hr's 85+ rbi's. This Cubs lineup has potential to be very solid but if all or most goes wrong like it did last year it could be extremely frustrating. In the pitching staff I see a couple of pitchers progressing and a few taking a minor step back. Improving: Carlos Zambrano, Randy Wells, Matt Garza, John Grabow(hate to say his name), Jeff Samardjiza(just a feeling he will end up as a mediocre to solid middle reliever for this team, which is an improvement over released.) Declining: Carlos Silva, Ryan Dempster(Slight), Carlos Marmol, Sean Marshall Maintain: Andrew Cashner, Kerry Wood, James Russel Sprint games cannot come soon enough.

Per yahoo fantasy (most likely jus projections based on 3 year averages but its february, any baseball is fun talk project!) Marlon Byrd - .286/.334/.434/.768 -14hr 61 rbi Starlin Castro - .288/.340/.405/.745 - 6hr 57rbi 16SB Tyler Colvin - .259/.321/.520/.841 - 23hr 64 rbi Blake DeWitt - .267/.333/.383/.716 - 6hr 47 rbi Kosuke Fukudome - .270/.360/.406/.766 - 11hr 48rbi Brett Jackson - .250/.333/.450./.783 - 1hr 3 rbi (20 AB) Carlos Pena - .240/.354/.481/.835 - 31hr 89rbi Aramis Ramirez - .281/.340/.507/.847 - 27hr 87rbi Alfonso Soriano - .258/.325/.468/.793 - 22hr 70rbi Geovany Soto - .276/.388/.460/.848 - 17hr 64rbi Andrew Cashner - 3-4 4.30 ERA 67IP/61K 1.43WHIP Ryan Dempster - 14-11 3.78 ERA 207ip/177k 1.29WHIP Matt Garza - 15-11 3.86 ERA 205ip/167K 1.25(projections based on Garza being in Tampa) Randy Wells - 11-12 4.38 ERA 187ip/132k 1.39 whip Carlos Zambrano - 12-8 3.46 ERA 169ip/129k 1.32 WHIP Carlos Silva - 9-8 4.37 ERA 134ip/88k 1.35ip

Pujols will sign with the Cubs and shortly after people will find out he used roids and is 47.

Pecota's pitching projects always are way off are they not? I have yahoo fantasy baseball projections if anyone wants I can include them in this thread.

I would rather have O'Day or Davis over Murphy. Add Silva into the deal as well. Or as was discussed before, Soriano and Young have similar contracts(Soriano 1 year longer). How about Soriano, Baker for Young? Young seems slightly more useful defensively as he could spell 3B and 2B with the occasional start at SS.

Looper's only shot is as a reliever.

My guess would be MLB Network.