SB Nation User Blog: IllinoisCubs

Jake Fox: Two more HRs tonight

IllinoisCubs — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:55:54 -0000

Jake Fox hit two more HRs tonight to bring his total to 11.

http://iowa.cubs.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t451&t=g_box&gid=2009_04_27_iowaaa_nasaaa_1

Say what you will, but this is a great story for now. It would be a huge step back defensively but if Lee hits the DL, we don't really have a choice but to play Hoffpauir at 1B and maybe give Fox some ABs in RF. He's smashing he ball right now and the Cubs are dinged up with no offense.

Gary Sheffield released by Tigers

IllinoisCubs — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:17:39 -0000

Tigers release Gary Sheffield

Wow, not sure if I understand this one. I'm guessing they called around to see if anyone was interested in trading for him with the Tigers eating some/all of his salary and no one was interested? They couldn't even get a minor league player for him. They must want Marcus Thames or Jeff Larish to really get a chance to play.

Cue the people who say we should sign Sheffield, but I don't think he can play OF anymore.

Peavy Deal Dead

IllinoisCubs — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:04:11 -0000

Peavy Deal Dead

LAS VEGAS -- San Diego general manager Kevin Towers just told reporters that a proposed deal to send pitcher Jake Peavy to the Chicago Cubs was dead.

"It doesn't look like anything is going to happen with the Cubs," Towers said.

Towers indicated that Cubs GM Jim Hendry pulled out of the deal.

"He said he's got other things going on. I respect his position," Towers said.

Towers will meet with team CEO Sandy Alderson on Monday and speak with Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod, in the coming days to see where they go next.

Towers said one option is pulling Peavy off the trading block and going into the 2009 season with him at the front of the starting rotation.

-- Corey Brock

Furcal turns down A's offer

IllinoisCubs — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:11:19 -0000

Now the fact that Furcal turned down the A's offer of 4 years for somewhere between $35M-$40M isn't exactly 'news' but I haven't seen any FanPosts about the market for Furcal being up in the air now.

I know Lou seems obbessed with getting a left-handed power hitter for the OF, but I think the team solves just as many problems by signing Furcal. You get a left-handed bat while allowing the team to use Theriot as a backup SS and 2B. Trade Cedeno for anything and that solves the extra roster spot.

Now with Furcal, you have a TRUE lead-off hitter, a left handed bat, and an upgrade defensivley at SS. I have argued before that Furcal wasn't worth the $$$ upgrade and ironically I've changed my mind as the economy has worsened. That may seem foolish, but the Cubs seem determined on signing a left-handed OF. Doesn't it make more sense to sign a switch hitting defensive upgrade WHILE also keeping open the option to have the left-handed OF you are paying $11M in '09, $13M, in '10, and $13M in '11, improve his play and prove his worth?!

I mean if we get to next year and we have signed Adam Dunn to a big contract and Felix Pie and Fukudome come out and have great spring trainings, you don't even have room to play everybody. Now it's very unlikely both Fukudome and Pie would come out and have great springs given their track record, but signing Furcal at least keeps the team more flexible.

Lineups galore:

SS Furcal

1B Lee

C Soto

3B Ramirez

LF Soriano

RF Fukudome

2B DeRosa

CF Johnson/Pie

Or put DeRosa in the 2nd spot and move everyone down

SS Furcal

2B Theriot

1B Lee

3B Ramirez

LF Soriano

C Soto

RF DeRosa

CF Johnson/Pie

Anyway, those are my two cents. To Furcal supporters I argued with earlier, I eat my hat but only if the Cubs are 100% going to sign a big free agent who can hit left-handed.

Our starting RF for 2008 just became available

IllinoisCubs — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:55:56 -0000

He bats left-handed.

He has good defense and can play CF or RF.

He can provide veteran leadership and is hungry to make it to the postseason.

He even played in Chicago last year and loved playing for Lou Pinella in the past.

In case you can't figure it out, I'm talking about Ken Griffey, Jr and the White Sox just declined his 2009 option making him a free agent for the year.

Blast away but I don't see a better situation from what else is out there. With a combination of Griffey, Pie, and Fukudome, Lou would have three options to play CF and RF. Re-sign Reed Johnson or a righty bat who can play all three OF positions and you are set for your 2008.

Are we going to get the Griffey with a .288/.373/.547 career line? No of course not, but we are going to get someone who can hit right-handed pitching well, is most comfortable hitting in the 3-spot, continues to get respect from around the league, and I think would be a guy who would come in looking for a WS championship and not give a damn about the stupid things attached to the Cubs WS drought.

The one downside is that his numbers against lefties are not good. They aren't even playable. However, Jim Edmonds got few at-bats against lefties and his small sample size is even worse than Griffey's in 2008.

As for lineups, I hope that Lou would go with Griffey's comfort as a 3rd guy in the order and trot out something like this:

Soriano

Lee

Griffey

Ramirez

Soto

DeRosa

Pie/Fukudome

Theriot

or even better

Theriot

Lee

Griffey

Ramirez

Soriano

Soto

DeRosa

Pie/Fukudome

against lefties I'm more stumped as to how to put a lineup together which again doesn't make this the prefect situation but I'm stumped to find a more realistic one out there. Plus I wouldn't discount the drive in Griffey for a WS title ESPECIALLY if his career could come full circle with him winning it with Lou Pinella as his manager.

Bill Simmons: Manny Being Manipulated

IllinoisCubs — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:21:59 -0000

I know Bill Simmons is one of those guys you hate or love, but I think regardless of your feelings toward him, you will find this piece very interesting.

Manny Being Manipulated

It brings up a lot of interesting questions that no one seemed to be asking around the time that Manny was being traded. Why am I posting this on a Cubs board? Well besides it's just being a well-written baseball piece, this section caught my eye:

"When Ortiz and Manny were clicking at the same time, like for the first few playoff games last October, the Red Sox simply couldn't be defeated. We had the modern-day Ruth and Gehrig and everyone else knew it.19 Call me crazy, call me nuts, call me a fool ... but I wasn't enthusiastic about giving that up without a reason that surpassed, "Uh-oh, Manny is acting up again." I also believe -- fervently -- that Boston fans needed Manny in our lives. Remember the way Sox fans behaved before October 2004? Tight as a drum, always expecting the worst? Manny never noticed the nail-chewing, knuckle-cracking and hair-pulling. The negative radio shows and columns never bugged him. He just kept showing up with that same dopey smile and cranking line drives. You could say he loosened up the entire city -- never receiving enough credit for this, by the way -- and when other self-proclaimed "Idiots" like Millar and Damon became his partners in crime, we ended up winning the 2004 World Series. Coincidence? I say no. If I had to pick a movie character to describe Manny's effect on the team and its fans, it would be Dunphy from "Outside Providence," the juvenile delinquent who showed up at the uptight '70s prep school, lightened things up, and within a few weeks, everyone knew how to roll a joint."

Do the Cubs need a leader who just doesn't give a shit and plays the game? Now I know that Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, DeRosa, etc. all talk about how the drought doesn't come into their minds, but you can tell just by watching them in the playoffs that this is going through their minds. As soon as a game starts to slip, things get more tense, guys seem to start pushing more and everything goes downhill from there.

Perhaps I can say this now because it's the off-season but I have lost some of my own tightness with this 2008 team. There's no definite team that will win the World Series, the Cubs will get there eventually, there's nothing I can do in the meantime. Do we need one of the Cubs players to just come out and lead the team in this attitude? Who could it be?

One last thing about the playoffs is I felt that no one player did take the lead of this team. Not Zambrano, not Lee, not Ramirez, not Wood, and certainly not Soriano. Maybe that's how you win games as a team during the regular season, but do you need one guy to lead a team through the post-season to victory?

Edgar Renteria

IllinoisCubs — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:00:20 -0000

I don't see his name being mentioned at all as a SS replacement. He had a bad 2008 (this is a fixed typo as posted out in first post), he's 33, but he has good defense and good .OBP.

Is he a plan B? plan C? Not a plan at all? He might find his way into the Central via the Cardinals.

Personally he seems like a guy to avoid if only because he's right-handed to boot.

Words: 5, 4, 3, 2 DONE!

Shin-Soo Choo

IllinoisCubs — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:48:56 -0000

All right, I searched the archives to see what has been written about this guy and I couldn't find anything recent.

Very quietly Shin-Soo Choo has put up .309/.397/.549 in 317 ABs with 14 HR and 28 2Bs while starting in LF or RF since the begining of June.

What are your guys' take on him? John had him in his top 50 batters list of 2003. Is he just a slow starter or ready to make a step to above-average/elite OF now that he has a starting job? Maybe he'll be the Carlos Quentin of 2009?

2009 Chicago Cubs

IllinoisCubs — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:24:07 -0000

Free Agents:

Kerry Wood

Ryan Dempster

Bobby Howry (THANK GOD!)

Jon Lieber

Jim Edmonds

Reed Johnson

Daryle Ward

Chad Fox

In:

Carlos Zambrano

Rich Harden

Ted Lilly

Jason Marquis

Geovany Soto

Derek Lee

Mark DeRosa

Ryan Theriot

Aramis Ramirez

Alfonso Soriano

Felix Pie

Kosuke Fukudome

Carlos Marmol

Jeff Samardzjia

Michael Wuertz

Neal Cotts

Koyie Hill

Rich Hill

Ronny Cedeno

Mike Fontenot

any minor league guy you can imagine, etc.

Dempster, Wood, Edmonds, and Johnson were so intergal to the Cubs success, I can't see them all staying and the Cubs being able to afford it. Nor would I necesarrily book on Edmonds returning to form. Dempster and Wood are crapshoots, but given the feelings of 2008, why would you stay?

Can Marshall be the No. 4 starter? I think so, but who is the No. 6 guy then to fill in for injuries? Do we want to sign someone to be a No. 6 to stretch out Harden?

Ugh, who cares? This team is lead by Ramirez and Soriano who will just not show up in the posteason again.

Offense Blows: Part 2, or Anyone but DeRosa

IllinoisCubs — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:57:40 -0000

God this offense blows chunks when it gets to the post-season

Soriano 3-29 (worst contract ever for a POS!)

Theriot 5-18 ( all crappy singles)

Lee 0-E (seriously all-time best regular season 1B, when he gets to playoffs, no power, no glove! thanks moron!)

Ramirez 2-20 (with one double, NO HR), stupid idiot

DeRosa 6-16 ( we do not deserve you, nor do you deserve us, you clearly aren't a crappy ass Cub)

Soto 1-12 (thanks for the HR last year, but you aren't doing crap this time around, oh and now our pitchers are sucking. Way to calm them, thanks!)

Wow, just wow. Edmonds and Fukudome are the new Felix Pie and Jacque Jones/Michael Barrett.

Even if Harden, Zambrano, and Dempster threw no-hitters this crappy ass 'major league team', '2nd best-major league team' would still lose!

Good Riddance I say! The curse lives on.... so does wine.... and Old Style