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Analysis, News & Rumors
Archives
October 2005 Headlines
Cubs Already Making Moves - 10/31/05 7:15pm
Cubs Release Schedule - 10/31/05 6:55pm
Position Analysis - Left Field - 10/30/05 5:33pm
Knopper's Korner - 2006 Analysis - 10/27/05 9:45pm
Position Analysis - Center Field - 10/25/05 7:22pm
Position Analysis - Right Field - 10/20/05 8:32pm
Cubs Have Chance with Furcal - 10/20/05 5:35pm
Position Analysis - Third Base - 10/19/05 8:53pm
Cubs Learn a Lesson: Pitching is Key - 10/19/05 8:41pm
MLB.TV Worth It? - 10/16/05 1:15pm
Position Analysis - Shortstop - 10/15/05 7:35pm
Position Analysis - Second Base - 10/11/05 7:39pm
Root for the Sox? - 10/11/05 7:31pm
2006 Cubs Convention - 10/6/05 7:00pm
Position Analysis - First Base - 10/2/05 4:45pm
10/31/05 7:15pm - Cubs Already Making Moves
The Cubs already seem eager for 2006 after making several important roster moves.
On Friday, the Cubs announced that they will be picking up the options on Todd Walker and Scott Williamson.
The Cubs also announced that they would not be picking up the option on Jeromy Burnitz.
Will the Cubs plan to have Walker as their starting second baseman next year or will they look to trade him?
Walker has already said that if the Cubs picked up his option, he hoped they didn't attempt to trade him
to a team he didn't want to play for.
The Cubs will plan to replace Burnitz with a free agent who has good contact at the plate
and speed on the bases. They Could also give Matt Murton a look if they find a starting left fielder.
On Monday, the Cubs also announced that they re-signed Glendon Rusch through the 2007 season. While they
promised Rusch to give him a good look for a possible starting role in 2006, expect the Cubs to still
focus on several free-agent starters.
- Bryan | Return
10/31/05 6:55pm - Cubs Release Schedule
Today, the Cubs released their tentative 2006 schedule. Fans will be looking forward to the 6 games against
what Ozzie Guillen says is Chicago's new #1 team, the White Sox.
Besides facing off against the White Sox, the Cubs will also play the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, and
Minnesota Twins in interleague play.
Opening day will be in Cincinnati against the Reds on Monday, April 3rd. They will play their first home game
against the Cardinals on Friday, April 7th. This season will prove to be challenging with many games against
3 of the final 4 teams left in this year's playoffs.
- Bryan | Return
10/25/05 7:22pm - Position Analysis - Left Field
The Left Field position was a difficult spot in 2005, but it did have a happy ending.
The Cubs started the season platooning Todd Hollandsworth and Jason Dubois. After both fell into slumps early, the Cubs traded Dubois for Jody Gerut. Gerut also shared time with Hollandsworth. On July 31st, the Cubs then traded Gerut for Matt Lawton with the hopes that Lawton may be the future lead-off hitter. Shortly later, the Cubs traded both Lawton and Hollandsworth.
Towards the end of the season, the Cubs went with rookie, Matt Murton, who played wonderful. Murton finished the season batting .321 in 51 games and 140 at-bats. He batted .315 in the month of September when he was mostly a fulltime player.
The Cubs have high hopes for Murton in 2006. He has given every indication that he deserves the starting spot in left field after starting red hot in the Arizona Fall League. In the first week, Murton was batting .555 after going 10-18 with 7 of his first 8 hits going for doubles.
Murton probably has the best odds out of anyone on the Cubs roster to solidify an outfield position in 2006. Don't expect the Cubs to focus much on a replacement. Instead, expect them to focus on Right Field and Center Field.
- Bryan | Return
10/27/05 9:45pm - Knopper's Korner - 2006 Analysis
Starting Lineup
- Furcal - SS (no brainer. forget about Nomar, sign Furcal)
- Cedeno- 2B (if Walker won't take a cheap deal, just start Ronny or Hairston, no real loss there)
- Lee - 1B (not going anywhere)
- Matsui - LF (isn't Matsui a free agent?? If he is, go get him. all he does is drive in runs. no more than 9.5 mil a year though)
- Ramirez - 3B (see Derek Lee)
- Giles - RF (I'm not a huge Giles fan but if he'll come here for about 6-7 mil a year, i think he's well worth it)
- Barrett - C (might split more with Blanco in '06. needs to really hit to prove he's worth it)
- Pie - CF (dump Corey and give Pie a chance)
Bench
- N. Perez (SS, 2B, 3B) (need to resign him, he's a super-sub)
- Murton (OF) (could be a starter if they can't land any free agents)
- Hairston (OF, 2B) (he and cedeno will battle for the starting job at 2B, the loser sits)
- Macias (OF, 3B, 2B) (another super-sub, plays a lot of positions, good defensively and good contact hitter)
- Blanco (C) (would be starter on most teams)
Starting Staff
- Zambrano (proven he's the ace)
- Prior (he'll need to be in 2003 form for us to succeed)
- Joe Mays (solid starter for the Twins the last couple of years)
- Maddux (still racks up the innings...better than any other cubs starter can say)
- J. Williams (should be a reliable #5 starter)
Bullpen
- Wood (i think wood should stay in the pen)
- Tom Gordon (bring him back. why not?)
- Eddie Guardado (solid lefty help, should be fairly cheap. fits the injury prone mold of a cub pitcher as well
- Rusch (need to resign him. he's been invaluable)
- W. Ohman
- S. Williamson (hopefully he can come back to form like dempster)
Closer
- Dempster - CL (already gave him the money. now, they'll give him every opportunity to close)
Analysis:
If they want to give Wood another shot at starting (which I don't think they should), then they need to spend big
$$ relievers. If they keep Wood in the pen, you need to sign a solid starter. I say Joe Mays from the Twins
or maybe Matt Morris from the Cards. On the offensive side, we need bats in the outfield. I think Matsui from the
Yanks would be great. Hitting behind D.Lee and maybe even behind Aramis. He drove in a ton of runs for the
Yanks behind A-Rod and Sheffield and would have plenty of opportunities here.
We have to make a decision with Corey. We are either dumping him, trading him, or sticking with him. I believe
we gotta dump him. Give the CF job to Pie but don't put a lot of weight on his shoulders (like we did with
Corey). Put him at the bottom of the order and let him learn instead of plopping him at the top of the order.
Bottom line:
They need a leadoff hitter, bullpen help, and more run producers.
Approximate 2006 Salaries - (in millions) with their 2005 salary in ( )
- wood: 10.0 (9.5)
- matsui: 9.5 (8.0)
- ramirez: 9.5 (8.9)
- maddux: 9.0 (9.0)
- lee: 8.0 (7.6)
- mays: 7.5 (7.2)
- furcal: 7.0 (5.6)
- giles: 6.5 (8.3)
- zambrano: 5.5 (3.7)
- dempster: 5.5 (2.0)
- gordon: 3.9 (3.7)
- guardado: 3.5
- prior: 3.5 (3.5)
- barrett: 3.3 (3.1)
- rusch: 2.5 (2.0)
- hairston: 2.0 (1.8)
- blanco: 1.5 (1.2)
- perez: 1.5 (1.0)
- macias: 0.9 (0.8)
- williamson: 0.6 (0.5)
- ohman: 0.5 (0.5)
- murton: 0.4 (0.3)
- cedeno: 0.4 (0.3)
- j williams: 0.4 (0.3)
- pie: 0.3 (0.3)
My estimate of their total payroll would be 103.2 million. In 2005 their actual payroll was 87M + 16M (paid to Baltimore
for Sosa) = 103.0 million. Dumping Nomar (8), Burnitz (4.5), LaTroy (5.5), Remlinger (4.5), Patterson (3) and
Sosa's contract (16) will open up about $40 million... SPEND IT!
Knopper's Korner is provided to CubbiesBaseball.com by both Senior and Junior Knopper, who are die hard Cubs fans.
- Knopper's Korner | Return
10/25/05 7:22pm - Position Analysis - Center Field
Center Field will be an interesting position during the off-season. The Cubs may look to trade Corey Patterson. Another year of his underperformance could set fans into a frenzy.
Patterson will again focus on tuning his swing and laying off bad pitches during the off-season. After batting .215 in 2005, the Cubs will look in a different direction.
With rookie, Felix Pie, waiting in the wings, Patterson's days could be numbered. Saying that, the Cubs will not depend on Pie alone. Look for the Cubs to retain a solid veteran to backup or split time to either Patterson or Pie. That way, if either are underperforming, the veteran could step up.
Kenny Lofton is a guy the Cubs should look at. He was an instant spark in 2003, and could help a young Felix Pie become the star everyone says he will become.
One thing is certain. The Cubs will probably not expect their center fielder to bat lead-off unless they acquire someone like Juan Pierre. Lofton would be a solid lead-off guy, but the Cubs will look to have a full-time player fill this role, with the most interest being in free-agent shortstop, Rafael Furcal.
The Cubs could also focus on Johnny Damon if the price is right. He could be the man that sends Corey packing and prepares the Cubs for the arrival of Felix Pie in the near future. If they signed Damon, it would likely be only for a year or two.
- Bryan | Return
10/20/05 8:32pm - Position Analysis - Right Field
In all likelihood, the Cubs will look for a replacement for Jeromy Burnitz for 2006.
Burnitz was a fan favorite, but fell into slumps several times during the year. He finished the
season with a .258 average, 24 homers and 87 RBI's.
He did an adequate job for the $4.5M he made in 2005.
Look for the Cubs to upgrade Right Field for 2006. They will have more money and more interest in
focusing on a player who will bat for average.
A possible candidate would be free-agent, Brian Giles. The right fielder batted .301 last year with
the Padres and had 15 homers and 83 RBI's. He would be the perfect fit in the Cubs lineup next year with a lifetime .299 batting average.
If Giles is not a possibility, look for the Cubs to shift around their outfield to give Matt Murton or Felix Pie a shot.
- Bryan | Return
10/20/05 5:35pm - Cubs Have Chance with Furcal
The Braves are trying hard to re-sign free-agent Rafael Furcal. Both sides are expected to continue contact negotiations next week with only one week left before the free agency period begins.
More than likely, Furcal will be filing for free agency after the World Series, which opens the door for
the Chicago Cubs. With plenty of extra money laying around, the Cubs are leading the pack of teams
that are interested in Furcal. He is expected to be asking for roughly $8M per year for a multiyear deal.
With the Cubs' recent struggles in their lead-off position, they may be willing to pay a high price for Furcal, who batted .336 with a .404 on base percentage in the last 84 games of the season.
Acquiring Furcal may make Nomar Garciaparra and Todd Walker expendable. This could shift plans by moving rookie, Ronny Cedeno from shortstop to second base.
- Bryan | Return
10/19/05 8:53pm - Position Analysis - Third Base
The Cubs have a solid future at Third Base with Aramis Ramirez.
Though slowed by injuries, Ramirez finished the season batting .302. The good news is that he hit 31 homers
and had 92 RBI's through August 24th before he sat out the rest of the season.
Ramirez is signed through 2008 and will be counted on to be one of the main offensive threats along with Derrek Lee. Together they anchor the corners of the infield. Ramirez will look to stay healthy and strengthen his defense for 2006.
Having Nomar fill in for Ramirez at third towards the end of the season actually let rookie Ronny Cedeno get more experience at shortstop. Nomar may be expendable in 2006, since the Cubs may be looking at Rafael Furcal to fill shortstop and the lead-off position. The Cubs may instead focus on Cedeno at shortstop. Either way, Ramirez will be starting at third in 2006. Expect the Cubs to retain a player like Jose Macias who could be a cheap option to back up a player like Ramirez.
- Bryan | Return
10/19/05 8:41pm - Cubs Learn a Lesson: Pitching is Key
One thing is certain about the 2005 playoffs. Cubs fans will have a hard time cheering for any team whether its the Sox vs. the Astros or the Sox vs. the Cardinals.
Each of the three remaining teams are all Cubs rivals and each of these three teams will visit Chicago numerous times in 2006.
One thing is certain. The Cubs can learn from the Sox, Astros, and Cardinals. Each of the three remaining teams have one thing in common. They each have decent offenses, but they all have solid pitching that has propelled them to the point they are at now.
The Sox have Buehrle, Garland, Garcia and Contreras, who all pitched complete games and dominated the Angels in the ALCS. They even have a solid Hernandez as a 5th starter.
The Astros have Clemens, Pettitte, Oswalt, and Backe. The Cards have Carpenter, Mulder, Morris, Suppan, and Marquis.
The Cubs should be learning a lesson from this. It is critical for the Cubs to enter the free-agent market during this off-season to find themselves some solid pitching. Yes, Prior, Zambrano, and Maddux are very solid pitchers, but Wood will be coming off surgery and there are no certainties for the 5th spot.
It will be very important for the Cubs to solidify their starting rotation. It is also very important for the Cubs pitching staff to remain healthy next year. Some of the potential free agents include Jason Schmidt, A.J. Burnett, Paul Byrd, Kevin Milwood, Jeff Weaver, Jarrod Washburn, Jeff Suppan, Jason Johnson, and Matt Morris. Adding one or even two of these starters is well within the 2006 budget and would definitely strengthen the staff.
- Jim | Return
10/16/05 1:15pm - MLB.TV Worth It?
Are you interested in watching the Cubs online with MLB.TV? You may want to think twice before you purchase
the package if you live in the Chicago area.
While the MLB.TV experience is great, especially if you have high speed internet, it may not be the best
idea for Cubs fans. With most areas in Chicago covered under the local blackout restrictions, most fans
will not get to see many games. Paying $100 in 2005 and only seeing approximately 5-10% of the games
should not be acceptable to Cubs fans.
On top of that, because the Cubs are broadcasted on WGN, fans have even less of a chance to see their team
on MLB.TV since WGN broadcasts nation wide.
If you think you can get around this restriction by entering a zip code across the world, think again.
MLB.TV uses geography-based IP tracking to ensure the television rights are protected. Before you plan
to get MLB.TV, read the fine print.
- Bryan | Return
10/15/05 7:35pm - Position Analysis - Shortstop
As indicated by our second base analysis, the shortstop position is very closely linked to the second base
position.
The Cubs have a decision to make with Nomar Garciaparra. With Ronny Cedeno looking ready to play and the
availability of other free-agent shortstops, Nomar's days as a Cub may have passed. Though he is a
fan favorite in Chicago, Nomar could be replaced for Rafael Furcal. Furcal not only would fill as the
shortstop, but would also fill as a lead-off hitter.
Finding a shortstop who could fill as a lead-off hitter also has implications on the center field position.
More than likely, the Cubs have no interest in placing Corey Patterson in the lead-off position next year. This
could also open the door for Felix Pie and maybe even open the door for veteran, Kenny Lofton.
What would happen to Ronny Cedeno? He may end up at second base. The Cubs would then have speed, youth, and
power.
If Nomar is asked to stick around, he would likely get the same type of contract he received in 2005. Cedeno
may still start, but would go to second base. The Cubs would then have to find a lead-off hitter, who would
fill an outfield position.
- Bryan | Return
10/11/05 7:39pm - Position Analysis - Second Base
Second base and the shortstop position seem to be closely linked this off-season. What happens with one position, could determine what
happens at the other. Todd Walker, the current second baseman for the Cubs has a team option for 2006, but the Cubs may be looking
to go in a different direction.
This may seem strange as Walker is a much needed lefty, who makes good contact and usually hits for a good average. Some have
criticized his defense, but in 2005, he only had 6 errors in 97 games.
The Cubs may actually pick up Walker's option and decide to trade him to make room for Ronny Cedeno. This will not make Walker
happy as he would prefer to pick a team to go to, rather than be forced to join another team. The Cubs were planning to get Ronny Cedeno
more playing time at second base before he was injured towards the end of the season. Expect to see Cedeno get plenty of practice at
second base this summer and spring.
Moving Cedeno to second base could be a strategic move, as it would open up the shortstop position. The Cubs could decide to keep Nomar
Garciaparra or go for Rafael Furcal. Furcal could act as a lead-off hitter if the Cubs were to look in his direction. There would also be plenty
of money for the Cubs to pursue him.
Could the infield be Lee, Cedeno, Furcal, and Ramirez? They would have good contact, low strikeouts, high averages, good power, and great
speed.
- Bryan | Return
10/11/05 7:31pm - Root for the Sox?
With the White Sox, Angels, Astros, and Cardinals in the playoffs, who do you cheer for? The simple answer if you
are a hardcore Cubs fan would be the Angels.
Three out of the four teams are bitter Cubs rivals. Since we cheer for the CHICAGO Cubs, shouldn't
we cheer for the CHICAGO White Sox? Hardcore Cubs fans know the answer to this without even thinking. There
is no way they could cheer for the cross-town rivals. They would either cheer for a National League team or cheer
for the Angels. They would never be able to live with the White Sox fans giving them grief for switching
their loyalties. If you are like other hardcore fans, you may not want anyone to win!
Would it be better if the Astros or the Cardinals win the series? Probably, since the Cubs will play then
numerous times next year. If they won against a World Series champion, it would give them confidence for the
rest of the 2006 season.
Any way you look at it, if you are a Cubs fan, it may not be the best time to watch the MLB playoffs.
- Bryan | Return
10/6/05 7:00pm - 2006 Cubs Convention
Mark your calendars, Cubs fans. The 2006 Cubs Convention is coming.
The Cubs Convention hits the Chicago Hilton from Friday, January 13th through Sunday, January 15th. Weekend
passes for the event will go on sale for $50 starting Monday, November 7th at 10:00am.
Last year, the convention saw over 60 current and former Cubs players including Ryne Sandberg, Ernie
Banks, Ron Santo, Carlos Zambrano, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Derrek Lee and many others.
The convention is also a great time for Cubs fans to mingle, buy Cubs merchandise, and attend information
sessions about the Cubs.
- Jim | Return
10/2/05 4:45pm - Position Analysis - First Base
If there was one position on the Cubs roster that they can be happy about, it is First Base. Derrek Lee
had a legitimate shot at the Triple Crown title well into August. Instead, he will finish the season with the NL
batting title with a .335 batting average, 46 homers, and 107 RBI's.
One of the best defensive first basemen in the majors, Lee will once again attempt to take a Gold Glove title
as well.
Having the best offensive season of his career next to being one of the best defenders in the league,
there isn't a first basemen in the league who is more valuable. Lee couldn't have had a better season
and will hope for the same next year. Any minor league first basemen in the Cubs system may want to learn
new positions as Lee is signed through next year and is expected to earn an extension. This year, Lee earned
$7.33M and in 2006 Lee will earn $8.5M.
- Bryan | Return
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