For my New Year's wish list, I'm wishing all the way through December 2013.
1. One of the Scotts breaks out and performs well enough to be traded for quality prospects in July.
2. Jeff Samardzija out-performs 2012.
3. One of our outfield prospects arrives earlier than planned and is better than expected.
4. Starlin Castro has less than 15 errors.
5. Darwin Barney hits .280
6. Tony Campana improves his on-base percentage enough to garner real playing time.
7. Fujikawa performs great, earns the closer spot, Marmol is happy to take the ball in the eight, performs well enough to cause a bidding war for him at the trade deadline, brings in a top 25 prospect (MLB Rankings, not individual team rankings).
8. I don't yet know what the free agent class of 2013 will be, but I hope there's better pitchers on the market than this year and I wish for the #1 ranked free agent pitcher, signed to no more than a four year deal.
9. The Cubs play well enough in 2013 to make a run for it in 2014.
10. All the young "Kids" bring enough excitement to the team to keep me interested and watching even though the Cubs are playing .500 ball (yes, I'm sneaking in the ".500 ball" wish here too).
Showing posts with label 2013 Preview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2013 Preview. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Thursday, December 20, 2012
7 Starters, 6 Roles
So obviously we didn't get Sanchez. Shame. But hey, we signed Villanueva and Jackson. We now have seven, yup, seven starting pitchers. Only five will start, one will be the long man and one will be left out. Who will that be? Baker and Garza's readiness may just answer that question kindly for everyone, but for the sake of argument, let's say they're all ready.
Jackson, Garza and Samardzija are in.
That leaves Baker, Feldman, Villanueva and Wood. Two will start, one will be the long man.
Villanueva looks to be a quality long man and occasional spot starter, so lets fill that role with him.
Wood is a lefty who performed good enough last year for the Cubs. Bonus points for these facts. Pencil him in as the #3 starter, breaking up all the righties.
That leaves just Baker and Feldman, and Baker has had a much higher upside in the past. He was the ace of the Twins staff just two years ago. He is just the kind of player the Cubs want and need. High potential upside, low contract, and if it all works out well, trade bait for prospects. You gotta give the final spot to him.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
The signing of Fujikawa has the potential to be a huge game changer for the Cubs next year. The only problem is that they would need to keep Marmol for this to happen.
Imagine Russell and Camp sharing the 7th, Marmol holding fort in the 8th and Fujikawa closing. I think this would be a really solid bullpen. This would be a bullpen that I could trust, but if Marmol gets traded, it's significantly weakened.
Having a solid 8th inning guy is becoming more and more important to the point that to be a contender, a team needs to have a closer-caliber type guy, or even an actual closer, working setup. Problem is, I think it's a real long shot the Cubbies keep Marmol. If they have the opportunity to unload his salary and get a prospect in return, there's no way they won't jump at it.
But, on the positive note, Madson signing with the Angels possibly knocks out the team that already has shown interest in taking Marmol.
Imagine Russell and Camp sharing the 7th, Marmol holding fort in the 8th and Fujikawa closing. I think this would be a really solid bullpen. This would be a bullpen that I could trust, but if Marmol gets traded, it's significantly weakened.
Having a solid 8th inning guy is becoming more and more important to the point that to be a contender, a team needs to have a closer-caliber type guy, or even an actual closer, working setup. Problem is, I think it's a real long shot the Cubbies keep Marmol. If they have the opportunity to unload his salary and get a prospect in return, there's no way they won't jump at it.
But, on the positive note, Madson signing with the Angels possibly knocks out the team that already has shown interest in taking Marmol.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
2013 Preview
Young talent can and should be able to compete, and with valuable Major League experience under their belts this year, many of the young guys should be better in 2013.
So will the Cubs repeat as a 100 loss team or will they compete?
It depends on the direction they take in the off-season. Soriano's production will be hard to replace if they trade him for minor league talent. Ditto with Garza. These two players will be key to the Cubbies having at least a .500 season. So, for the sake of this post, I'll assume they keep these two.
1st Base: Rizzo is the future of the Cubs at 1st and a future All-Star. With him there and improving, we can win.
2nd Base: Very few are as good as Barney defensively, and if he can improve his batting average to the high .280's, I think we have a winner there too.
3rd Base: Valbuena and Vitters look to platoon if nothing is done here. Hopefully they don't intend on resigning Ian Stewart. 3rd base is definitely looking weak, but if either of those guys can improve a little and hold the fort, we'd have a solid #8 hitter.
SS: Castro's defense will improve, I'm not worried. Other than that, we have a winner here too.
Infield: So, with the exception of third base, we have seen (and I love) the Cubbies of the future. These are all players I could easily see taking the team to the playoffs in the next couple of years. But now if only the rest of the positions looked as good.
OF: Brett Jackson is the only "future of the Cubs" we got a look at this year, and I wasn't impressed. Hopefully with some Major League experience and some winter ball, he'll improve. A lot is riding on this guy. Soriano can be the veteran presence the team needs right now, leading the Cubs by example and providing a fearsome presence in the lineup. I'm still not sold on DeJesus and I'd rather see LaHair get more time in right field.
C: The jury's still out on our catchers and I want to see more of them before I form an opinion, but right now, they look to be solid #6 or #7 hitters.
P: I'm excited about Samardzija. He's our Strasburg or Medlin, but not as good. Hopefully he can get there. I'm a fan of Garza, but I really feel like he's a low #2/high #3 starter at best. Not someone I'd build a rotation around. There's nothing else to be excited about. Travis Wood looks to be a solid #5 starter, but who gets excited about a #5 starter. Chris Volstad is arbitration eligible, and I hope beyond all hope we don't give this guy a penny.
Bullpen: I'd like to keep Jeff Russell as our 7th inning guy and blow up the rest of the bullpen.
Off-season Hopes: If we open 2013 with the same batters, plus or minus a few bench guys, I'd be happy. I'm happy, because that meant we focused our off-season on pitching. Two new starters to go behind Samardzija and Garza and ahead of Wood. Two or three new bullpen additions also look good. Give me this team and I have hopes of contending. Maybe we don't make the playoffs just yet, but were up there contending for most of the year. The young guys are improving and learning to win. The front office is now ready to make a big play in the free agent market and sign the biggest pitcher on the market for the 2014 season. They also sign the biggest closer on the market for the 2014 season.
So will the Cubs repeat as a 100 loss team or will they compete?
It depends on the direction they take in the off-season. Soriano's production will be hard to replace if they trade him for minor league talent. Ditto with Garza. These two players will be key to the Cubbies having at least a .500 season. So, for the sake of this post, I'll assume they keep these two.
1st Base: Rizzo is the future of the Cubs at 1st and a future All-Star. With him there and improving, we can win.
2nd Base: Very few are as good as Barney defensively, and if he can improve his batting average to the high .280's, I think we have a winner there too.
3rd Base: Valbuena and Vitters look to platoon if nothing is done here. Hopefully they don't intend on resigning Ian Stewart. 3rd base is definitely looking weak, but if either of those guys can improve a little and hold the fort, we'd have a solid #8 hitter.
SS: Castro's defense will improve, I'm not worried. Other than that, we have a winner here too.
Infield: So, with the exception of third base, we have seen (and I love) the Cubbies of the future. These are all players I could easily see taking the team to the playoffs in the next couple of years. But now if only the rest of the positions looked as good.
OF: Brett Jackson is the only "future of the Cubs" we got a look at this year, and I wasn't impressed. Hopefully with some Major League experience and some winter ball, he'll improve. A lot is riding on this guy. Soriano can be the veteran presence the team needs right now, leading the Cubs by example and providing a fearsome presence in the lineup. I'm still not sold on DeJesus and I'd rather see LaHair get more time in right field.
C: The jury's still out on our catchers and I want to see more of them before I form an opinion, but right now, they look to be solid #6 or #7 hitters.
P: I'm excited about Samardzija. He's our Strasburg or Medlin, but not as good. Hopefully he can get there. I'm a fan of Garza, but I really feel like he's a low #2/high #3 starter at best. Not someone I'd build a rotation around. There's nothing else to be excited about. Travis Wood looks to be a solid #5 starter, but who gets excited about a #5 starter. Chris Volstad is arbitration eligible, and I hope beyond all hope we don't give this guy a penny.
Bullpen: I'd like to keep Jeff Russell as our 7th inning guy and blow up the rest of the bullpen.
Off-season Hopes: If we open 2013 with the same batters, plus or minus a few bench guys, I'd be happy. I'm happy, because that meant we focused our off-season on pitching. Two new starters to go behind Samardzija and Garza and ahead of Wood. Two or three new bullpen additions also look good. Give me this team and I have hopes of contending. Maybe we don't make the playoffs just yet, but were up there contending for most of the year. The young guys are improving and learning to win. The front office is now ready to make a big play in the free agent market and sign the biggest pitcher on the market for the 2014 season. They also sign the biggest closer on the market for the 2014 season.
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