His swing really resembles Godzilla (H Matsui). I love how he keeps his hands back. If our outfield is Soriano, Pie, and K-Fuk, we might lead the league in assists because this guy has also got a hose. Here is a video with some sweet highlights and a weird ass rap song in the background.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Leadoff Man
The glaring problem with the lineup posted by Tim is that there is no lead-off hitter. With the current roster, I would probably have the K-Fuk hit leadoff, DLee hit 2 and Soriano hit 3rd. The problem with this lineup is that it probably pisses off all 3 guys, but I think it makes the most sense. If other players are an accurate predition, K-Fuk is probably going to turn into a gap hitter with few ding-dongs. DLee did the same last year. So having them one-two seems ideal to me. However, it presents the problem of Soriano, whose numbers just go to piss outside of the leadoff spot. It scares me that we are paying this guy so much money when he has 115 home runs in the last 3 years, and only 41 have not been solo shots. This takes into account almost 2000 at-bats! Not a small sample size!
So this all leads to the point of the post. The rumors are that the Orioles are going to have a fire sale, and one of their high-paid guys is Brian Roberts. We would probably have to throw them a bone like a Felix Pie and/or Sean Marshall, but with Roberts, I think we would have a championship quality lineup. Of course, their president is none other than Andy Mc"Fail", who is probably still buddies with Jim Hendry. Ironically Andy always said that he would bring a championship to Chicago. Now he finally has a chance that he is working in the American League!
So this all leads to the point of the post. The rumors are that the Orioles are going to have a fire sale, and one of their high-paid guys is Brian Roberts. We would probably have to throw them a bone like a Felix Pie and/or Sean Marshall, but with Roberts, I think we would have a championship quality lineup. Of course, their president is none other than Andy Mc"Fail", who is probably still buddies with Jim Hendry. Ironically Andy always said that he would bring a championship to Chicago. Now he finally has a chance that he is working in the American League!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
How Would Harry Say It?
Kosuke Fukudome is a Chicago Cub. I only wish Harry Carey was still around to butcher a name like that. In the only significant acquisition so far this offseason by the Cubs, they signed right fielder Kosuke Fukudome. Kosuke is a 30 year old, 6'0", 187 pound, right-handed throwing, left-handed hitting, on-base machine. He comes in as a free agent from the Nippon Professional Baseball League. Early reports are that he was signed to a 4 year, $48 million contract.Here's what I wrote about him a month ago:
A career on-base percentage of .400 and slugging of .550 are both awesome. Obviously he won't put up numbers like that in the MLB, but an OPS of .960 last year and 1.100 the year before is pretty stellar. Some of that should translate. The Cubs need guys who can get on base and Fukudome is one of them.The Cubs have been obsessed with finding a left-handed hitter (rightfully so, [haha, get it? Right fully?]). There really aren't any others available via free agency. The big 3 of Rowand/Jones/Hunter are all rightys. I know Lou wants a lefty to break up the Soriano/Lee/Ramirez combo. I think Fukudome projects to a perfect 2-hole hitter. He has a little power, but mostly doubles power (think D.Lee-type power from last year).
There has been talk that he can play Centerfield, but I haven't seen much about it. Probably not the best of ideas. That leaves Felix Pie as the everyday Centerfielder. I don't really like the sound of that. There has also been a lot of talk about getting the switch hitting second baseman Brian Roberts from the Orioles. I've always liked the guy, but DeRosa looked great last year, posting a 800 OPS from Second Base. There was talk they'd move DeRosa to the outfield if they brought in Roberts, but now I don't see where you would put him. DeRosa would need to be a corner outfielder. He doesn't have the speed/range to play center.
Right now the lineup looks something like this:
| Position | Name (Bats) | AVG/OBP/SLG |
| LF | Alfonso Soriano (R) | 299/337/560 |
| RF | Kosuke Fukudome (L) | 294/443/520 * in Japan |
| 1B | Derrek Lee (R) | 317/400/513 |
| 3B | Aramis Ramirez (R) | 310/366/549 |
| 2B | Mark DeRosa (R) | 293/371/420 |
| C | Geovanny Soto (R) | 353/424/652 * in AAA |
| SS | Ryan Theriot (R) | 266/326/346 |
| CF | Felix Pie (L) | 215/271/333 * in 177 AB |
Friday, November 30, 2007
SS Update - Astros Save Cubs from Themselves
The Cardinals have signed Cesar Izturis and the Astros have signed Kaz Matsui, effectively saving us from ourselves. I call this a shortstop update, because I think that's what the Cubs would have asked Kaz to play. Also there is the Cardinals news. The Cardinals move isn't as big of a deal because the Cubs would not have brought Izturis back for another round in Chicago. However, it has interesting implications because it likely means they will not be offering David Eckstein arbitration. That would be a great pick up for my Cubbies if they don't feel any of their young players will be solid starters this year. Eckstein has some injury issues, but having backups like Theriot and Cedeno might be an optimal situation for taking on that risk. The upside is high.
Also, by the Stros signing Matsui, the Cubs dodged a horrible-contract bullet. Indications were that Hendry wanted Matsui, luckily they didn't spend what the Astros did. Early comments on the hot stove blogs are that the signing is an early favorite to be the worst of the off-season. The Astros reportedly gave Matsui (whose mediocrity I've discussed previously) 3 years, $15-16 million. Wow.
Also, by the Stros signing Matsui, the Cubs dodged a horrible-contract bullet. Indications were that Hendry wanted Matsui, luckily they didn't spend what the Astros did. Early comments on the hot stove blogs are that the signing is an early favorite to be the worst of the off-season. The Astros reportedly gave Matsui (whose mediocrity I've discussed previously) 3 years, $15-16 million. Wow.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
State of the Cubs Pitching
The latest poll results on Cubs.com has Cub Fans saying the major need for the team is another front-end starter. I'm not so sure.
SP-
Carlos Zambrano
Rich Hill
Ted Lilly
Jason Marquis
Sean Marshall
Ryan Dempster
Mark Prior
RP-
Scott Eyre
Bobby Howry
Neal Cotts
Michael Wuertz
Will Ohman
Juan Mateo
Angel Guzman
Kevin Hart
Adam Harben
Billy Petrick
Carmen Pignatiello
Jeff Samardzija
CP- Carlos Marmol
As I stated in the last post, this is part of the 40-man roster and is meant to save players from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. That's why Samardzija and a couple other rookies are on there. I don't expect to see Jeff this year. Hopefully he can get up to Iowa and pitch well. There is no need to rush him. I hear he has been pretty solid in the minors so far.
The Cubs pitching seems to be a couple tweaks away from great. We have 6 starting pitchers, if you include Prior, who I have heard is already out until mid-way through the season next year. Also of note is that he will be a free agent after next season. Ok, so call it 5 starting pitchers. However, Lou and Jim Hendry want to move Dempster back to the rotation. So, that is back up to 6. This leaves the odd man out to be Sean Marshall. That's fine. He wasn't amazing (though I thought he was quite good) and another long relief pitcher who could make spot starts is a very useful thing to have.
However, there seems to be a good amount of rumbling that we need another pitcher. Rumors are that we have been heavily scouting a Japanese pitcher named Hiroki Kuroda. Not sure where we'll fit him in, but starting pitching is always good to have. I think part of the thinking here is that they want to have 2 Japanese player to ease the transition if they dip in to that market (remember Kosuke Fukudome). There were also rumors of signing Kaz Matsui to ease the transition. That would accomplish the goal, since he has played in the MLB for a couple years now and is Japanese. However, he is a 32 year old middle infielder and not all that good. Hiroki, however, is pretty good. He's a free agent now and the Cubs tried to get him posted last year to no avail. His numbers are not bad. He had 144 strikeouts to just 21 walks 2 years ago with a 1.85 ERA. That is amazing control. Last year he leveled back out, but still had 123K / 42BB and a 3.56 ERA. The ERA last year is not very good, but the other numbers are nice. We'll see how it turns out. Sounds like the Mariners are pretty interested as well.
UPDATE 11/26/07: Cubs sign Wood to a 1 year deal reportedly for $4 million plus up to $3 mil in incentives. I think this is a great signing. With Dempster probably moving to the rotation, I think Wood has a great chance to be the new closer. Plus you are only on the hook for 1 year. Love it!
Woody is a free agent and is getting some interest from other teams (namely Boston). I would like to have him back, but word on the street is that he would like to be a starter again. I'm not so sure that's a good idea with his injury problems (but you just never know, he could be healthy). You can say we wouldn't need him as a starter, but if he ever returned to what he once was, you would have to make room for him. People ask why we don't just cut ties with Wood and Prior to get it over with. Do you remember in 2003 when Dusty Baker said that Carlos Zambrano would be the best of the Wood/Prior/Big Z combo? A lot of people thought he was nuts. You have to remember how good Wood and Prior were back then. If they can stay healthy and get back an inkling of that dominance, they'd be some of the best pitchers on our staff.
So, I think if you can either add a couple of arms to the pen and/or keep Dempster out of the rotation and pick up a number 3 or 4-type starter (which the Japanese guy would likely be), the pitching will be in great shape. The Cubs lead the NL in strikeouts again last year, as they have for every year since 2000. They also had the 2nd best team ERA, an amazing 4.04. They were the best pitching NL team that didn't have Jake Peavy. My perennial pick, Carlos Zambrano came in 5th in Cy Young balloting, despite having an uncharacteristically bad start to the season (5.62 ERA through the first 2 months). I think Ted Lilly was better than anyone could have imagined, leading the rotation in ERA.
SP-
Carlos Zambrano
Rich Hill
Ted Lilly
Jason Marquis
Sean Marshall
Ryan Dempster
Mark Prior
RP-
Scott Eyre
Bobby Howry
Neal Cotts
Michael Wuertz
Will Ohman
Juan Mateo
Angel Guzman
Kevin Hart
Adam Harben
Billy Petrick
Carmen Pignatiello
Jeff Samardzija
CP- Carlos Marmol
As I stated in the last post, this is part of the 40-man roster and is meant to save players from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. That's why Samardzija and a couple other rookies are on there. I don't expect to see Jeff this year. Hopefully he can get up to Iowa and pitch well. There is no need to rush him. I hear he has been pretty solid in the minors so far.
The Cubs pitching seems to be a couple tweaks away from great. We have 6 starting pitchers, if you include Prior, who I have heard is already out until mid-way through the season next year. Also of note is that he will be a free agent after next season. Ok, so call it 5 starting pitchers. However, Lou and Jim Hendry want to move Dempster back to the rotation. So, that is back up to 6. This leaves the odd man out to be Sean Marshall. That's fine. He wasn't amazing (though I thought he was quite good) and another long relief pitcher who could make spot starts is a very useful thing to have.
However, there seems to be a good amount of rumbling that we need another pitcher. Rumors are that we have been heavily scouting a Japanese pitcher named Hiroki Kuroda. Not sure where we'll fit him in, but starting pitching is always good to have. I think part of the thinking here is that they want to have 2 Japanese player to ease the transition if they dip in to that market (remember Kosuke Fukudome). There were also rumors of signing Kaz Matsui to ease the transition. That would accomplish the goal, since he has played in the MLB for a couple years now and is Japanese. However, he is a 32 year old middle infielder and not all that good. Hiroki, however, is pretty good. He's a free agent now and the Cubs tried to get him posted last year to no avail. His numbers are not bad. He had 144 strikeouts to just 21 walks 2 years ago with a 1.85 ERA. That is amazing control. Last year he leveled back out, but still had 123K / 42BB and a 3.56 ERA. The ERA last year is not very good, but the other numbers are nice. We'll see how it turns out. Sounds like the Mariners are pretty interested as well.
UPDATE 11/26/07: Cubs sign Wood to a 1 year deal reportedly for $4 million plus up to $3 mil in incentives. I think this is a great signing. With Dempster probably moving to the rotation, I think Wood has a great chance to be the new closer. Plus you are only on the hook for 1 year. Love it!
Woody is a free agent and is getting some interest from other teams (namely Boston). I would like to have him back, but word on the street is that he would like to be a starter again. I'm not so sure that's a good idea with his injury problems (but you just never know, he could be healthy). You can say we wouldn't need him as a starter, but if he ever returned to what he once was, you would have to make room for him. People ask why we don't just cut ties with Wood and Prior to get it over with. Do you remember in 2003 when Dusty Baker said that Carlos Zambrano would be the best of the Wood/Prior/Big Z combo? A lot of people thought he was nuts. You have to remember how good Wood and Prior were back then. If they can stay healthy and get back an inkling of that dominance, they'd be some of the best pitchers on our staff.
So, I think if you can either add a couple of arms to the pen and/or keep Dempster out of the rotation and pick up a number 3 or 4-type starter (which the Japanese guy would likely be), the pitching will be in great shape. The Cubs lead the NL in strikeouts again last year, as they have for every year since 2000. They also had the 2nd best team ERA, an amazing 4.04. They were the best pitching NL team that didn't have Jake Peavy. My perennial pick, Carlos Zambrano came in 5th in Cy Young balloting, despite having an uncharacteristically bad start to the season (5.62 ERA through the first 2 months). I think Ted Lilly was better than anyone could have imagined, leading the rotation in ERA.
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