Cubs spend to win
The offseason's most active team on the spending front looks to reverse a 66-96 campaign in 2006. Can the Cubs go from the outhouse to the penthouse?
The big snowstorm that hit the Midwest in general and the Chicago area in particular this week just might be a blessing in disguise. With all of the shoveling that needs to be done it might keep Cubs fans from thinking too much about their team’s chances this year, thereby decreasing the inevitable belly-flop that seems destined to come.
After an offseason spending spree that saw Chicago add Alfonso Soriano, among others, and keep slugging third sacker Aramis Ramirez in Cubbie Blue, there is reason for optimism on the Windy City’s North Side this season. To begin with, it surely can’t get any worse than the injury-marred, 96-loss campaign the team tossed into their long suffering annals last year.
Another reason for optimism is they’re in the NL Central where 83 wins was good enough to hoist a flag last year. Even if they stood pat with the hand they had, they might have been able to approach the .500 mark with a little bit of luck on the injury front. Ok, a whole lotta’ luck.
And in addition to the players they brought in, Chicago also swept Dusty Baker to the curb in favor of Lou Piniella in the manager’s role. Now I’m not saying that Piniella is going to come in and light a magic fire under the Cubs’ butts like Jim Leyland did in Detroit last season. But I’m also not saying that he won’t.
Piniella’s fiery presence could easily ignite the clubhouse. Sweet Lou was also able to assemble a pretty good coaching staff, including former Tigers manager Alan Trammell as his bench coach and Gerald Perry, who has worked with Piniella before in Seattle and is also familiar with third baseman Ramirez who he tutored while Aramis was in Pittsburgh.
OFFENSE
While the focus in so many Cubs previews is on Soriano, and for good reason after he signed a bazillion dollar deal in the winter to keep him in a Cubs uni through most of this century, an equally and possibly more important player for Chicago in 2007 will be Derrek Lee. After flirting with the Triple Crown in 2005, Lee busted his wrist in early April, possibly came back too early in late June and had to return to the DL after the All-Star break, then returned again just before September before having to miss the final couple of weeks of the season dealing with his daughter’s rare genetic disease.
It was not a good year for Lee, to say the least. He managed to play in just 50 games and hit just eight home runs a year after he blasted 46. Assuming his wrist is ok now, it will be like landing two high-impact free agents for the offense this year with Lee hitting behind Soriano for 150 games.
To Lee’s right on the infield, Mark DeRosa will be at second this year after signing as a free agent. DeRosa strung together a solid season with the Rangers hitting nearly .300 with career highs in just about every offensive category while playing several defensive positions for Texas, including every infield spot. How he really responds to being an everyday player at a set position is the lingering question.
Ramirez, coming a few career highs of his own, will be on the opposite infield corner from Lee, signed a big 5-year deal to stay with the Cubs, and how his laid-back, sometimes apathetical play meshes with Piniella might be interesting to watch. Look for Cesar Izturis to man short most of the time.
The primary infield backups will be Ronny Cedeño and Ryan Theriot. But don’t be surprised to see Theriot possibly taking over full-time at second eventually with DeRosa back in his Mr Everywhere role.
Michael Barrett, off his third consecutive 16-HR season, will catch with Henry Blanco spelling him from time-to-time.
Soriano is slated to play one of the outfield corners at Wrigley, most likely right. His offense, including his 160 strikeouts in 159 games last year, will also be at the top of the Cubs’ batting order. Cliff Floyd, another free agent acquisition, will be in left with Matt Murton taking his place once Floyd goes on the DL. And you know he will.
For now, Jacques Jones is the center fielder. I say for now because Chicago shopped him all winter after Jones was not all that happy with the Cubs last year. Baltimore is one team they have been talking to about Jones, according to some rumors. Angel Pagan will probably be the fifth outfielder, though young stud Felix Pie could push his way into the picture at some point this season.
PITCHING
Might as well start this section off with the Mark Prior-Kerry Wood DL Sweepstakes. I’m taking May 27 on Wood and April 8 for Prior.
Seriously, have two more promising pitchers ever had this much bad luck when it comes to being injured?
Prior, who signed a 1-year deal at the end of January, made just nine starts last year before being shut down. He’s reportedly spent the winter trying to strengthen his fragile right shoulder and, who knows?, he might actually be able to make 30+ starts this year. But who would’ve thought he would be competing with Wade Miller - - Gulp! - - for the fifth spot in the Cubs’ rotation at this stage in his career.
Carlos Zambrano is the odds-on favorite to be the Opening Day starter, some freak injury during Spring Training the only thing that could change that. Since these are the Cubs, such a freak occurrence is indeed a possibility. Right behind the Z-man will be Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis and Rich Hill, not necessarily in that order. Lilly, a lefty, should be a consistent arm for Piniella. And Hill, another lefty, came on strong last year with a 2.54 ERA in his 77+ innings of work from Aug 1 through the end of the season.
But Marquis? While giving him $21 million over three years might not be quite as perplexing as the Royals giving Gil Meche $55 million over five years, it’s still a bit of a reach. Maybe Marquis can get back to his 2004-05 form, but being an ex-Cardinal means Cubs fans won’t have much patience with him.
Wood, who signed an incentive-heavy 1-year deal with Chicago this winter, is listed as the team’s closer for now. He’s reportedly dropped 20+ pounds over the past couple of months and the hope is he can weather the strain of being a reliever and possibly pitching on consecutive days.
If Wood can’t do it, the good news is Chicago’s bullpen is relatively deep. Bobby Howry, Roberto Novoa and Ryan Dempster, right-handed slingers, are joined by southpaws Will Ohman, Scott Eyre and Neal Cotts, a transfer from the South Side. Cotts will be looked at as a possible starting arm this spring as well.
Key Player(s): Anyone tired of me listing pitchers as the key players for their teams in 2007? Well, too bad. Prior and Wood are undoubtedly the two most crucial elements of this team. If they’re back to form, the Cubs can easily go from last in the NL to the NL reps in the World Series, as impossible as that sounds.
Futures: The Greek has the Cubs at +185 to win the NL Central, just behind the Cardinals at +165. The strange part is despite being one of the favorites for their division, The Greek tosses Chicago in with the field for winning the NL Pennant. The Cubs are 5:2 to win the division at VIP Sports, once again just behind the Cards, and list Chicago at 5:1 to win the National League. Pinnacle puts the Cubs at +210 in the division.
The Cubs are my pick to make the biggest jump in the win column from last year. My projections have them at 79 wins, a 13-game improvement from 2006, with the sky basically the limit if they really can stay healthy, especially on the mound.
The offseason's most active team on the spending front looks to reverse a 66-96 campaign in 2006. Can the Cubs go from the outhouse to the penthouse?
The big snowstorm that hit the Midwest in general and the Chicago area in particular this week just might be a blessing in disguise. With all of the shoveling that needs to be done it might keep Cubs fans from thinking too much about their team’s chances this year, thereby decreasing the inevitable belly-flop that seems destined to come.
After an offseason spending spree that saw Chicago add Alfonso Soriano, among others, and keep slugging third sacker Aramis Ramirez in Cubbie Blue, there is reason for optimism on the Windy City’s North Side this season. To begin with, it surely can’t get any worse than the injury-marred, 96-loss campaign the team tossed into their long suffering annals last year.
Another reason for optimism is they’re in the NL Central where 83 wins was good enough to hoist a flag last year. Even if they stood pat with the hand they had, they might have been able to approach the .500 mark with a little bit of luck on the injury front. Ok, a whole lotta’ luck.
And in addition to the players they brought in, Chicago also swept Dusty Baker to the curb in favor of Lou Piniella in the manager’s role. Now I’m not saying that Piniella is going to come in and light a magic fire under the Cubs’ butts like Jim Leyland did in Detroit last season. But I’m also not saying that he won’t.
Piniella’s fiery presence could easily ignite the clubhouse. Sweet Lou was also able to assemble a pretty good coaching staff, including former Tigers manager Alan Trammell as his bench coach and Gerald Perry, who has worked with Piniella before in Seattle and is also familiar with third baseman Ramirez who he tutored while Aramis was in Pittsburgh.
OFFENSE
While the focus in so many Cubs previews is on Soriano, and for good reason after he signed a bazillion dollar deal in the winter to keep him in a Cubs uni through most of this century, an equally and possibly more important player for Chicago in 2007 will be Derrek Lee. After flirting with the Triple Crown in 2005, Lee busted his wrist in early April, possibly came back too early in late June and had to return to the DL after the All-Star break, then returned again just before September before having to miss the final couple of weeks of the season dealing with his daughter’s rare genetic disease.
It was not a good year for Lee, to say the least. He managed to play in just 50 games and hit just eight home runs a year after he blasted 46. Assuming his wrist is ok now, it will be like landing two high-impact free agents for the offense this year with Lee hitting behind Soriano for 150 games.
To Lee’s right on the infield, Mark DeRosa will be at second this year after signing as a free agent. DeRosa strung together a solid season with the Rangers hitting nearly .300 with career highs in just about every offensive category while playing several defensive positions for Texas, including every infield spot. How he really responds to being an everyday player at a set position is the lingering question.
Ramirez, coming a few career highs of his own, will be on the opposite infield corner from Lee, signed a big 5-year deal to stay with the Cubs, and how his laid-back, sometimes apathetical play meshes with Piniella might be interesting to watch. Look for Cesar Izturis to man short most of the time.
The primary infield backups will be Ronny Cedeño and Ryan Theriot. But don’t be surprised to see Theriot possibly taking over full-time at second eventually with DeRosa back in his Mr Everywhere role.
Michael Barrett, off his third consecutive 16-HR season, will catch with Henry Blanco spelling him from time-to-time.
Soriano is slated to play one of the outfield corners at Wrigley, most likely right. His offense, including his 160 strikeouts in 159 games last year, will also be at the top of the Cubs’ batting order. Cliff Floyd, another free agent acquisition, will be in left with Matt Murton taking his place once Floyd goes on the DL. And you know he will.
For now, Jacques Jones is the center fielder. I say for now because Chicago shopped him all winter after Jones was not all that happy with the Cubs last year. Baltimore is one team they have been talking to about Jones, according to some rumors. Angel Pagan will probably be the fifth outfielder, though young stud Felix Pie could push his way into the picture at some point this season.
PITCHING
Might as well start this section off with the Mark Prior-Kerry Wood DL Sweepstakes. I’m taking May 27 on Wood and April 8 for Prior.
Seriously, have two more promising pitchers ever had this much bad luck when it comes to being injured?
Prior, who signed a 1-year deal at the end of January, made just nine starts last year before being shut down. He’s reportedly spent the winter trying to strengthen his fragile right shoulder and, who knows?, he might actually be able to make 30+ starts this year. But who would’ve thought he would be competing with Wade Miller - - Gulp! - - for the fifth spot in the Cubs’ rotation at this stage in his career.
Carlos Zambrano is the odds-on favorite to be the Opening Day starter, some freak injury during Spring Training the only thing that could change that. Since these are the Cubs, such a freak occurrence is indeed a possibility. Right behind the Z-man will be Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis and Rich Hill, not necessarily in that order. Lilly, a lefty, should be a consistent arm for Piniella. And Hill, another lefty, came on strong last year with a 2.54 ERA in his 77+ innings of work from Aug 1 through the end of the season.
But Marquis? While giving him $21 million over three years might not be quite as perplexing as the Royals giving Gil Meche $55 million over five years, it’s still a bit of a reach. Maybe Marquis can get back to his 2004-05 form, but being an ex-Cardinal means Cubs fans won’t have much patience with him.
Wood, who signed an incentive-heavy 1-year deal with Chicago this winter, is listed as the team’s closer for now. He’s reportedly dropped 20+ pounds over the past couple of months and the hope is he can weather the strain of being a reliever and possibly pitching on consecutive days.
If Wood can’t do it, the good news is Chicago’s bullpen is relatively deep. Bobby Howry, Roberto Novoa and Ryan Dempster, right-handed slingers, are joined by southpaws Will Ohman, Scott Eyre and Neal Cotts, a transfer from the South Side. Cotts will be looked at as a possible starting arm this spring as well.
Key Player(s): Anyone tired of me listing pitchers as the key players for their teams in 2007? Well, too bad. Prior and Wood are undoubtedly the two most crucial elements of this team. If they’re back to form, the Cubs can easily go from last in the NL to the NL reps in the World Series, as impossible as that sounds.
Futures: The Greek has the Cubs at +185 to win the NL Central, just behind the Cardinals at +165. The strange part is despite being one of the favorites for their division, The Greek tosses Chicago in with the field for winning the NL Pennant. The Cubs are 5:2 to win the division at VIP Sports, once again just behind the Cards, and list Chicago at 5:1 to win the National League. Pinnacle puts the Cubs at +210 in the division.
The Cubs are my pick to make the biggest jump in the win column from last year. My projections have them at 79 wins, a 13-game improvement from 2006, with the sky basically the limit if they really can stay healthy, especially on the mound.
