February 2011
Shortstop: Starlin Castro
Today, we turn our focus will be on one of the young rising stars in the Chicago Cub’s system, starting shortstop Starlin Castro. One of the most appealing and energetic players for the team this year, he burst onto the scene last season and was an immediate fan favorite. As a matter of fact, in his very first game he set a few rookie records which include most RBI (six) in his debut. While he did not continue of the sizzling pace he set for himself in his first game, he did end his rookie campaign with some pretty amazing statistics to boast about.
Ending the year with an even .300 batting average to go with his three home runs and 41 RBI is not bad at all for a rookie, even though he did pale in comparison to rookie of the year Buster Posey. In his less than a full season, he also racked up a WAR number of two, which for less than a full season is fairly impressive. Add in his speed, and you have a pretty impressive player in the works.
The only flaw in his game, which I am sure will get better the more time he spends in the majors is his occasionally shaky defense. I have absolutely no complaints about the kids range, as he can cover more than his fair share of ground. The problem comes into play with his throws to first base. Even with a solid defensive first baseman in Derek Lee, he still racked up a tremendous amount of errors. That is likely one of the few things which knocked him out of contention for Rookie of the Year, though even with eliminating his errors I would have a hard time passing up Posey for that award.
This season, Cubs Manager Mike Quade has already voiced his opinion on where the young Castro will be hitting in the lineup. While I disagree with batting Castro hitting second in this lineup, I can not fully disagree with the idea of having a .300 hitter batting second. However, that is another blog for another time and I will get back to that topic later.
This season, I see Castro continuing to grow and to improve on the basic skills. With another year about to begin, and another Spring Training in the works, look to see Castro grow more into his body and develop some more power. You may never see outstanding power numbers out of Castro, but during his career he could easily reach the mid teens or low 20s in the home run category. His glove work should almost certainly improve as well as one would find him repeating 27 errors in 2010. He needs to learn which balls he can reasonable get to, and to better judge the amount of time he has to throw the ball to get the runner out. There are times that I believe he tries to do too much, and in time he will learn what he can and can not do better.
While I highly doubt that he will ever reach the quality of defense that “The Wizard of Oz” Ozzie Smith was able to do, keep in mind that in his rookie campaign he made 25 errors his first season as well, in fact he was in the 20s his first three years. So there is hope that Castro can and will vastly improve his defensive play.
For the year to come, I see some improvements coming for Castro. His batting average might very well go down, but I see an improvement in each of his other statistics. I think he will level out to around a .280ish batting average with about the same amount of homers, maybe a few more which could bring him up to about five. The RBI level should also raise, assuming he has someone on base ahead of him. He could reach the 50 or 60 range. Of course, this is assuming he does not fall into the traditional “sophomore slump” that sever players have fallen into for one reason or another, Geovany Soto being one of those who suffered that fate.
All in all, 2011 should be a signature season for Castro as he looks to continue to prove that he belongs in the big leagues.
The Hot Corner: Aramis Ramirez
After a brief hiatus from taking a look at the various players who will be starting for the Chicago Cubs, we return to examining those who will be taking the field day in and day out. Today, the focus is placed on the third baseman for the Cubs, Aramis Ramirez. Just like he has been in every previous year, he is one of the two biggest cogs in the offensive machine. If this team is to go anywhere this year, Ramirez will be one of the major driving forces leading the way. If he is unable to come back to form, and return to the level we have become used to seeing him perform, then this season will be a lost cause.
Ramirez just has not been the same since injuring his shoulder early in the 2009 campaign in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers. He missed a few months, but when his shoulder was rehabilitated and he was able to get back into the everyday lineup, he eventually returned with a bang. He looked like the Ramirez of old, and even came close to what his career statistics say he should be at, if you were to expand them to a full season. In the mind of the Cubs fans, all was well and he would be fully prepared to deliver a traditional Ramirez year in the 2010 season. As you all know, that just did not happen.
Last year, Ramirez stumbled out of the starting gate, and put up the worst offensive year of his professional career. He was racking up strike outs at a rapid pace, and leaving runners on base and quickly deflating the hopes of the fans. He was quickly becoming thought of as an automatic out every time he stepped into the batters box, that is how bad things got for him. He fell so far in the hearts and minds of some Cubs fans, that he was placed in the same category as fans place Carlos Zambrano, Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome; overpaid for a much too long contract. Personally, I am not one of these fans who believe this about any of those players, but who am I to argue and tell someone their opinion is wrong?
Thankfully, for his sake, Ramirez was able to put together a pretty good end of the season. He started showing signs of snapping out of his season long funk, and began looking like the Ramirez of old; granted he did so in garbage time when the Cubs were all but eliminated, but he showed signs of being back in form.
For those of you who believe in the myth of the contract year explosion of stats (I do not believe in this myth, but I wont begrudge those of you who do), this is your time to see just how real that idea is. Technically, Ramirez is in a contract year who needs to convince the Cubs to pick up his $16 Million dollar option for the 2012 season. In order for the Cubs to do this, Ramirez needs to return to his 30 plus home runs with 100 plus RBI. If the Cubs are going to contend this year, those are the stats he must put up. This is a very simple win win scenario for both sides. If Ramirez earns his option year in the Cubs eyes, the chances are very good that the team is in contention. However, the opposite is also true. If he does not live up to expectations and fails to earn his option year, the Cubs are likely out of the running for the division title.
Cubs Manager Mike Quade has already announced that Ramirez will be hitting cleanup for the Cubs in 2011, which is a great place for him. With his typical power and run producing skills, there could not be a better place for him, again if he is the Ramirez we have all come to know and love. While the nickname belongs to Jeff Samardzija, I have taken to calling Ramirez “shark”. The reason behind this, is because when he is in form, he smells RBI on the bases like a shark smells blood in the water. He is an RBI chaser, whom most teams would give anything to have in the heart of their order. Thankfully, for the 2011 season, Ramirez is still a member of the Cubs, and will anchor their offense.
For this season, I honestly see Ramirez having a rebound year. Not because he is in a contract year, but because he is a tremendous offensive force. With Marlon Byrd hitting in front of him, and Carlos Pena behind him, Ramirez is surrounded by talent and should have plenty of opportunity to deliver a standout offensive year. I can easily see him returning to the 30-100 campaign that we are used to seeing. That is not my wearing my Cubs colored glasses, that is an honest assessment of what I think he can and will do in the year to come. I think he will do more than enough to earn his 2012 contract with the Cubs,
That can only mean good things for the year to come, don’t you think?
What Makes or Breaks Your Fan Hood?
Over the past few days and weeks, I have come to notice a trend on my Facebook page amongst some of my friends and followers. This blog stems from comments made on two different topics. The first was the potential of Albert Pujols reaching free agency, and whether or not the Chicago Cubs should try to sign him. The second incident started in the discussion about St. Louis Cardinals Ace pitcher, Adam Wainwright, could very well be out for the season due to possibly needing Tommy John surgery. This is primarily where I decided that I needed to clear my head and make my views known on the subject at hand, the Pujols discussion just adds delicious icing on the cake.
Apparently, with some Cub fans (I know that other team’s fans do this as well, but this is a Cubs blog so I am focusing on us), there is a thought process out there that because you are a fan of the team, you must hate the two biggest perceived rivals of the north siders, as well as their players. The two biggest rivals, in the minds of most fans, are the Cardinals and the Chicago White Sox. While I will completely agree with the Cardinals being our biggest rival, I can not put the White Sox in the same category. For one, the Cardinals are not only in our league, they are in our division and we contend with them on a daily basis. The White Sox on the other hand are in the American League, and we only see them six times a year as opposed to the rest of the teams in our division, or even our own league (most of whom we also only see six times a year as well).
I understand the hatred of the White Sox, as they are our cross town rivals, other than those six games a year, they are meaningless to me. Add into the mix that their fans are on the top of my most annoying list, and a hatred (or severe dislike) is very easy to understand. But that isn’t exactly where the issues I am having come into play.
When the discussion of signing Pujols if he reaches free agency came up, I came across several Cub fans who were adamantly against signing him to a contract. Not because he would eat up close to a fifth of the payroll or even because they did not want to sign another player to the length of deal that he was been reported to be asking for. These fans were against the possible signing of him, because he is a St. Louis Cardinal and they do not want a former cardinal on the team. These fans hate the Cardinals that much, that they would pass up the greatest hitter in the game, all because he is a member of the hated rival. I can not make sense out of that at all. I am not saying that your opinion is wrong, not at all. Just stating that I fully disagree with that idea of not wanting a player just because he plays for a hated rival.
Granted, there are several players that I hate and would be in physical pain if I had to root for them if they one day became a member of the Cubs. I hate A.J. Pierzynski with a fire hotter than the sun, but not because he is a member of the White Sox. I hate him, because he is an arrogant jackass who seems to live to piss people off. In fact, there are a few current and former White Sox players who I like. Jim Thome is one of the former White Sox that I like, he is one of those guys who I find hard to hate. Alexi Ramirez is another player who I find to be someone hard to hate. He is a fantastic young player, and I would love to get him on the north side to play for the Cubs.
As far as the Cardinals go, Pujols is simply an amazing talent who any team would be stepping all over themselves to get a piece of. Adam Wainwright is another one that I would do anything to bring to the Cubs team, he could very well be the best pitcher in the Central Division, and that is not so much a slight to any of our pitchers as to how amazing he is, and how strong the pitchers are in the division.
Does my liking these players that play for the hated rivals make me any less of a Cub fan? Some fans would say that would make me less of a fan then they are. I do not care, because I know where my loyalties lie, and which team I root for day in and day out.
That leads me perfectly into the next topic of discussion. With a percentage of fans (again, with all teams) there is a feeling of giving a slight against your team if you do not fully believe that the Cubs will win the division year in and year out. These fans take that as an insult against their team, calling you out and questioning your fan hood. I have no problem whatsoever with fans who honestly believe that every year the Cubs will be great; as a matter of fact, I love the optimism and hope that they have. But what troubles me is when someone isn’t on board and has sever doubts that the team can do as good as others, and their fan hood gets questions. Not everyone is an optimistic fan who truly believes that every year could possibly be the year.
On the same note, there are those fans who also find that you are committing a cardinal sin (no pun intended) if you compliment a rival team and talk about how good you think they could be this year. I will freely admit (as I did on the radio show with Eric Lamb) that I think the White Sox are going to have a fantastic year. They have a great offense and a very impressive pitching staff. I will also admit that I fully believe that with that offense, Adam Dunn could very well have an MVP quality year. They might be the best team in that division. I have no problem saying that.
Again, I ask you, do you believe that my thinking the White Sox will be a good team means that I am a White Sox fan? Or that I cheer for them more than the Cubs? No, I do not, and I would hope that you would not make that assumption either. Questioning someone’s love of their team just because they speak positively about a hated rival just makes no sense to me.
I fully understand that I may very well be pissing off some of my blog and page followers with what I am saying right now. I am also fully aware that I may also get deleted because of these thoughts (though I hope that I wont be). But I would not be honest with myself, or with those who read my blogs if I did not tell you the truth about what was on my mind. I hope you all understand that this is my opinion, one which I am entitled to, as are all of you . We may disagree with each others opinions, but that is what makes sports so enjoyable. You and I can disagree with one another and still enjoy the conversation that comes with voicing our opinions.
Whats 2B for the Cubs in 2011: Jeff Baker and Blake Dewitt
After a bad case of the Mondays struck hard and fast, I am back to continue the look at the Chicago Cubs position by position. Today, we find ourselves at second base. I have to be honest here, the second baseman for the 2011 season, is our weakest spot in the lineup, and has been since Mark DeRosa was traded. To kill any debate before one is started, I am not saying the Cubs should not have traded DeRosa at all. Seriously, what has he done the past two years to make you wish he was still on the Cubs those two years? Absolutely nothing. So if you want to throw your two cents in about him, feel free. However do not be surprised if I do not agree with you.
Anyway, back on topic. Second base is an interesting position for the Cubs in 2011, because of how weak they are there. They do not have any standout candidate to pickup the job and claim second as their own. The two candidates for the position are Jeff Baker and Blake Dewitt, which is what makes today’s examination so interesting. What Cubs Manager Mike Quade should do with these two, is give them a straight lefty/right platoon. In this case, Dewitt would get the majority of the at bats because he is a left handed bat, and Baker could take over when there is a left hander on the mound. This fits in perfectly because he crushes lefties, and could easily slide in the leadoff spot on days he is starting.
When Dewitt came to the Cubs via a trade for Ryan Theriot, the comparisons began. To make a long story short, Dewitt is a younger and left handed version Theriot; he comes with a little less speed, a little more power, but he comes without the cool sounding last name or the Tooblans (Thrown Out On The Base paths Like A Nincompoop). Theriot was famous for them, and you could usually count on him to make at least one boneheaded base running mistake a ballgame. With Dewitt, you do not get that. He knows how to run the bases. One more quality that he brings to the Cubs that Theriot did not, was the ability to draw a walk once in a while. However, in an honest moment, he likely will not be the reason we will be winning many games this year.
Defensively, he is an upgrade over Theriot, but that is not a hard task to do. He may not drive in too many runs for the Cubs, but he will not allow too many to score because of a boneheaded defensive play.
With Baker filling in against the left handed pitchers, you will not miss a step offensively. For his career, he is hitting at a .350 average, and getting on base close to a .400 clip. Those are outstanding numbers, and using him properly against those left handers, and you could very well see him putting up some very impressive statistics, even for a part timer. He does not have much power, which might turn him off from some fans though.
I can not try to sugar coat this, overall, second base could very well be a complete disaster for the Cubs this year. As I mentioned, this is our biggest weakness going into the season. Do not expect much out of either of these two offensively.
We will be lucky if Dewitt hits .260 this year with around five or six homers and 50 RBI. Not great statistics, and on par with what Theriot was producing. The upside, as I mentioned, he will get on base at a higher rate than his predecessor and be on base more to get driven in. That could very well be the most important difference between the two. Dewitt will not be thrown out before the rest of the team has a chance to drive him in,
With Baker, if he only bats against the left handed pitchers as I hope, he could be in store for a good season of .280 ball with maybe three or four homers and about 30 some RBI.
Of course, both these statistics could be way off based on playing time, or better play at the plate. Hopefully I am wrong and both men have outstanding seasons and blow my predictions out of the water. I would not be disappointed to be wrong at all, in fact, I hope that I am.
That being said, I am getting prepared for a headache when we think about second base for the 2011 season.
The first sacker: Carlos Pena
As we anticipate the potential free agency of the greatest player in baseball, Albert Pujols, we should not forget about the player who will be playing first base for the Chicago Cubs in the 2011 season, Carlos Pena. While he is not in the same league as the impressive slugger, he is not a bad option to have camping out at first base for your ball club.
While his batting average has continued to dip further and further into less than mediocrity over the past few years, his power and run producing numbers have not been hurt at all. As a matter of fact, his past four years have been his most productive years of his career. In that time frame, he has hit an average of 36 home runs and 101 RBI, which stands up there with some of the best sluggers in the game.
Now, in signing him to a one year deal, this opens up a lot of doors for the Cubs, as well as for Pena. For the new first baseman, this allows Pena to prove that he is fully healthy, after an injury plagued year saw his batting average slip below the Mendoza line, and saw both his power and run producing numbers to slip below the 30-100 (he wound up with 28-84) mark from the first time in the past four year mark. While those numbers would still be a big help to any team, they still leave you to wonder if Pena has anything left. That is where is benefits Pena.
While I do not believe in the contract year myth, though several do, I do believe in the redemption year thought process. I will give you that there are several arguments in favor of the contract year, Adrian Beltre is the primary example, there are just as many cases of people in contract years who do not have outstanding numbers; one such example is Pena. He did put up impressive power numbers in his contract year, but his average and on base percentage took a hit which would scare some teams away. They didn’t scare the Cubs away, but likely allowed them to sign him at a lower price than the power numbers would have suggested.
In this redemption year, Pena has something to prove, which would make him more determined to shine than he normally is. In an effort to not be a hypocrite, I will not back off of anything that I have said in the past. Players should always be fully motivated and determined to do the best job they can possibly do, but there will always be instances where you find that little something extra to help carry you to the next level. I believe that will be the case for Pena this year. I am not talking about a complete rebirth or explosion of stats, but a potential leveling out of his stats to some sense or normalcy. Signing the one year deal, allows him to get paid a decent amount for this season, with the potential to get one last big money deal for extended years after this season if he proves to be back to form.
Where this benefit’s the Cubs, is they now have a stop gap between first basemen. While they did not really have anyone in the farm system you would trust to play first base, at least not a young player close, free agency was the path to take. Because of his season long lingering injury, and dipping statistics, the one year deal is less of a risk than they would be facing if they signed him to a longer term deal. If he is a great success, and returns to a mid to high .200 batting average with 30-100 numbers again, you could very well re-sign him to a pretty good deal, and the potential that he could give you as slight discount knowing that you took a chance on him where others may not have been so sure.
This one year audition of sorts, also allows the Cubs the flexibility and opportunity to sign one of the pending free agent first baseman who will be hitting the market after the 2011 season. I fully believe that was the main reason why Pena was signed to a one year deal. There would be no one standing in their way of pursuing one of the two free agent slugging first basemen. While there was only one guy who we figured to reach free agency, Prince Fielder, now there could potentially be two with Pujols.
With the potential offense that Pena could bring to the Cubs, he also brings gold glove defense. With Aramis Ramirez always a threat to throw the ball away, and with Starlin Castro likely to do the same, you need someone over at first who can prevent those wild erroneous throws. Never under estimate the importance of a good defensive first baseman.
Because of his power, Pena will be batting in the middle of the lineup, either third or fourth. With the proper batters in front of him, meaning guys who cant actually get on base, he should have plenty of opportunities to drive runs in. This means a potential return to the 100 RBI plateau, which will be a massive improvement over anything we got from last year’s first sacker Derek Lee, which is another example of a player in a contract year failing to deliver breath taking statistics.
As far as what I expect to see out of Pena for 2011, I would like to believe we will see a jump in all his numbers. While this will not be impressive, I think Pena can bring his average back above the embarrassing Menzona line, and finish with possibly a .250 average, which sadly would be his highest average since his power surge began. As far as power and run producing, I would be surprised if those change too much. Expect a near 30 homer season and around 100 RBI, again this all depends on if people can get on base in front of him.
Behind the Dish: Geovany Soto
Hello Dreamers! Spring Training has arrived, and now every single player has arrived in Mesa. This means the time has come to start of looking at the individual players at each position that will make up the 2011 Chicago Cubs. Traditionally, I start with the pitchers and work my way around the field; however, due to the number of unanswered questions in camp revolving around the entire pitching staff, I will skip over the pitching staff and come back to them at the end of my individual looks. That means that today, I will be focusing in on the Cubs backstop, Geovany Soto.
In 2007, Soto exploded onto the scene in September and opened a lot of eyes as he stole the starting catcher job away from Jason Kendall as the Cubs entered the playoffs. He had huge expectations laid on him for the 2008 season, and he did not disappoint as he was the run away winner of the Rookie of the Year award. Cub fans everywhere were thrilled that they had finally had found a legitimate answer to the catcher position. A young power hitter, who knew how to work the count. Soto had arrived. That is until the 2009 season started, and Soto turned from an amazing player into someone the Cub fans would rather forget about. He had turned back into a pumpkin seemingly over night.
Enter the 2009 season, no one knew which Soto was the real Soto. Did he have a career year in 2008, and then revert to his normal self? Fans did not have to wonder to long to find out what Soto would be able to do for the team in the 2010 season. While he did not have as good of a season as he did in his rookie campaign, Soto still put up stellar numbers for the Cubs, despite spending most of the season batting in the eighth spot in the lineup.
What we have learned about Soto, is that he has an amazing eye at the plate, knows how to work the count and draw walks; he also has a fair amount of power which makes him a duel threat. If pitchers are to careful with him, he will have no problem taking a walk, but if they give him a good pitch to hit, chances are he will take advantage of any mistake the pitcher makes. The question that Cubs Manager Mike Quade must answer, is where he should bat in the lineup. Lou Piniella wasted much of Soto’s talent by not only hitting Soto in the eight hole for a majority of the season, but by taking far too many games away from him and giving them to backup catcher Koyie Hill.
If I were Quade, and with the information that we have about his offensive skills, I would have to take a good hard look at batting Soto in the top of the batting order. Out of every one of the everyday players from last year, he has the highest on base percentage on the team. That is not saying I want him to be the Cubs leadoff hitter, but I do think that he should be batting second. Speed at the top of the batting order is completely over rated, what you need are guys who know how to get on base in front of your major run producers. Add in his power threat, and you will have pitchers being very careful with him, especially with him batting in front of your three hitter.
Defensively, Soto is rough around the edges and is not a major threat to throw out base stealers. That will scare some fans off from wanting him as the everyday backstop. A lot of people last year said they wanted Hill behind the plate because they feel he is more of a threat to potential base stealers and that he calls a better game. Personally, I do not buy this one bit as Soto is the much better option. No disrespect to Hill, okay that was a lie, but he is not a capable catcher for everyday play. As an occasional replacement for when Soto needs a day off he could be passable, but if he gets more than 15-20 starts he is getting too many. Soto is your bread and butter at the catcher position, and should be utilized as such.
With the second highest WAR number on the team last year, right behind Marlon Byrd, Soto has proven to be a valuable asset to the team, and I see no reason why he should not continue to be a major contributor for years to come, unless he continues to lose valuable playing time for a far less superior player in Hill.
As far as what I see Soto doing this year, baring injury, I think Soto will be in store for another stellar year. Obviously where he hits in the lineup will impact his run producing, so predicting his RBI totals will not be easy. That being said, if he hits second, and with a competent leadoff hitter, he could easily reach the 60 RBI total, if not a little higher. His home run production should fall in line with what he normally is able to produce, and should fall in the high teens or low 20s.
All in all, 2011 should be a very solid year for Soto.
Cubs Sign Carlos Marmol to a Long Term Deal; Is This Good or Bad?
Today, in a highly expected move, the Chicago Cubs finally signed Carlos Marmol on a three year deal worth a total of $20 Million. What this new contract does, is lock up their electric closer through both of his remaining arbitration years, as well as his first year of free agency. While Marmol is a key piece to the bullpen, fans across Cub Nation are split on whether or not this is, in fact, a good deal.
On one hand, baring injury or a complete implosion that we fans have come to be used to, the Cubs know exactly who their closer will be over the next three years. On the other hand, he is costing them a lot of money over the next three years combined. While the first year of his contract is a very manageable $3.2 Million, he gets a massive increase in 2012 when he will get a major pay raise to $7 Million. The contract which runs through the 2013 season, will then pay Marmol $9.8 Million in his final year. That is a major price for a relief pitcher, no matter how dominating he can be. However the best closer in baseball, Marino Rivera, just signed a new contract which says he will be making $30 Million over the next two years. In that aspect, you could very well consider the Cubs got Marmol at a discount. While pondering this, forget that Marmol is nowhere near the closer that Rivera is.
The sad thing about the arbitration years, is that no matter how much money you make, or how poorly you have played, you are guaranteed to get a raise if your current team decides to keep you. So if the Cubs and Marmol did not come to this agreement, he would have been making around $5 Million this year, and next year would have gotten another raise to likely between $7-8 Million then enter free agency, and the Cubs might have actually saved money in the long run.
Statistically speaking, Marmol is the most inconsistent pitching in baseball over the past four years, which just so happens to be his whole career. In his time with the club, we have seen the mixed bag that is the “Marmol Experience”. We have seen him walk the bases loaded on seemingly 12 straight pitches, and we have also seen him strike out the side on nine pitches. He is likely the most frustrating pitcher the Cubs have ever had, since Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams.
In order to understand just how maddening Marmol is, and to get a grip on the whole “Marmol Experience”, how about we take a look at his surprising numbers throughout his career.
First, on the plus side, Marmol has been the most dominating relief pitcher since he came into baseball. To say he is a lights out pitcher does not do him justice, because no one can get a hit off of him. Since the start of the 2007 season, Marmol leads all major league relief pitchers with 441 strikeouts and a .154 batting average against. Looking at strictly these stats, you would say that Marmol is worth every penny of the $20 Million he will be making over the next three years. However, if you are going to celebrate and embrace the greatness that is Marmol, you must also take the bad. You must also accept what makes you want to put your foot through the television set every time he takes the mound.
As dominating as Marmol has been over the course of his career, he has also been as inefficient as any pitcher over the same time frame. I said that no one can get a hit off of him, but that may be because he walks them before he allows them to get a hit.
Over the same timeframe that he has been completely lights out, leading all relievers in strikeouts and batting average against, he also leads them in some highly negative statistics. On top of those stats that make you say wow, he also leads all relief pitchers in walks allowed per nine innings. Currently, Marmol is allowing 5.63 walks per nine inning pitched, and has a grand total of 193 free passes in his four years of service. That is 60 more walks allowed than the man who holds second on the list of most walks allowed over the past four years. Ironically, that pitcher is Kevin Gregg, whom I am sure you all regret remembering. To add to the conundrum that is Marmol, he leads all relievers in hit batsmen over the same time frame, eight more than the next closest wild pitcher. Going off these stats, there is no way in hell Marmol is worth anything close to what he was signed for.
So you tell me Cub fans, with Marmol being the most inconsistent relief pitcher in baseball over the past four years, is he worth the $20 Million he will be making over the next three years? You can not argue with the fact that when he is on his game, there is no one better. But the flipside of the coin is when he does not have his “A Game”, he may very well be the worst pitcher in the game.
Either way you look at things, these next three years with Marmol will be very exciting.
The Four Greatest Words in Sports
PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT!
Despite the feet of snow on the ground, and the below freezing temperatures which continue to haunt us, Spring is just around the corner. Right now, the thought of warmer temperatures seems to be a tale worthy of the great Greek and Roman myths, however there is no surer sign of the change in seasons than players showing up for Spring Training in Arizona or Florida. That is exactly what is happening today for your Chicago Cubs, who will have their first official workout tomorrow. Nothing warms you up more than the knowledge that baseball is just around the corner.
An off season that was filled with the realization and the disappointment of reaching the 103 year mark in the championship drought and the loss of a legend, has left the spirit of the Cub fans broken with undoubtedly a feeling that is down and out. However, today we can finally lift our heads and say, “Yes, baseball is back!” With a fifth place finish and 75 wins in 2010, many Cub fans are already bracing themselves for what will be yet another disappointing season in 2011. Despite how poor the previous season went, there are some reasons to look forward to the upcoming season.
With the birth of the 2011 season comes a few new faces, as well as the return of some former, and well loved former Cubs.
The return of Reed Johnson and Augie Ojeda (both of whom who were signed to minor league contracts) is sure to fill some fans with a warm fuzzy, for one reason or another. Nevertheless, neither one of these two is expected to make the team coming out of training camp, they were more or less signed for depth in the case of serious injury. Even then, with some potential budding stars biding their time, Johnson and Ojeda may never see the light of day on the Major League roster this year at all. Those signings are relatively meaningless in the greater aspect of things.
However, the more important player who was brought back is Kerry Wood. Unlike the other two, he was brought back to immediately improve the ball club and their bullpen. After spending the past two years elsewhere with the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees, Wood comes back to finish his career where everything started for him. Along with Sean Marshall, he will be setting up for Carlos Marmol, the Cubs now have a very devastating back end of the bullpen to close out games.
The off season also saw the Cubs making a key trade to bring in Matt Garza from the Tampa Bay Rays which undoubtedly improves their starting rotation. He was one of the best starters in the American League, and coming over to the National League where there is one less hitter in the lineup, logic would say that he should be better. Say what you will about the extremely high price of bringing him here, he is an improvement over the pitchers who would have been filling in the rotation. Putting him in the mix with Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster, the Cubs have a very impressive top of the rotation, and one of the best rotations in the National League. While their rotation can not compete with the likes of the Philadelphia Phillies, and lets be honest no rotations can, the Cubs do have a very formative pitching staff. Not to mention Randy Wells and a slew of other young arms all of whom will be vying for the final spot. How many other rotations can say they have two pitchers that have thrown no hitters? I know that doesn’t really amount to much in the long run, but a remarkable statistic nonetheless to throw around in conversations.
Finally, also from the Rays, the Cubs signed their new first baseman Carlos Pena. Granted his batting average has been sub par the past few years, but you can not argue with his power and run producing numbers. With him being here strictly on a one year deal, he may fit like a glove at first base and give them exactly what they need. Putting him in the middle of the order with Marlon Byrd and Aramis Ramirez and you have a potential heart attack for any opposing pitcher. Add in a young run producing Geovany Soto and an emerging super star in Starlin Castro and you have an offense which could generate a good number of runs on a daily basis.
There are reasons to be excited about the upcoming season, and these are just a handful of them. Even for the most pessimistic fans out there, you can not write off that this club does have some potential to make a little noise in the 2011 season. As the off season goes on, I will give my thoughts on each individual position on the team (even though the Cubs already did that, and stole my Spring Training Blog titles in the process), the players, as well as the potential bench and bullpen. Each player blog will be rounded up with a season prediction as well. When the series of breakdowns is over, I will write up my predication thread for the season.
Welcome to the 2011 baseball season!
Anno Catuli
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