Jeff Samardzija
Cubs Clearly Want Jeff Samardzija to Succeed
Not that the Cubs would wish failure on any of their players, but the team’s effort to push Jeff Samardzija to success this Spring has been obvious and, at times, painful. He regularly pitches the 9th inning of Spring Training games, where he faces a cadre of minor leaguers, and is subjected to little criticism when he [...]
If Randy Wells Doesn’t Make the Rotation, He’s Going to AAA Iowa
I’ve made no secret about my belief that the very notion that Randy Wells is “competing” for a rotation spot is beyond absurd. Even if basing the decision solely on his “bad” 2010 season, advanced metrics suggest Wells one of the top 30 starters in the NL last year, and was better even than new [...]
New Reliever Robert Coello Happy to Be a Cub
A little less than a week ago, the Chicago Cubs traded second base prospect Tony Thomas to the Red Sox for reliever/prospect Robert Coello, whom the Red Sox had to dump to clear up space on their 40-man roster. It was a surprising move, given the Cubs’ depth in the bullpen this year, but Coello [...]
Jeff Samardzija Sounds Dangerously Close to How He Sounded Last Year
At the time of the 2010 Chicago Cubs Spring Training, there were no fewer than four guys competing for two back-end rotation spots: Tom Gorzelanny, Carlos Silva, Sean Marshall and Jeff Samardzija. Marshall pitched the best out of the group, but ended up in the bullpen. Silva and Gorzelanny won the rotation spots. Samardzija pitched [...]
The Cubs Just Secured a Top Prospect: Matt Szczur
The Chicago Cubs’ thinning prospect corps just received a shot in the arm when Villanova wide receiver Matt Szczur, drafted by the Cubs in the 5th round last year, but thought to prefer a future in the NFL, agreed to stick with baseball for good. The $1.5 million to which the Cubs upped their signing [...]
Carlos Silva Guarantees Himself a Rotation Spot
Is Carlos Silva impressively confident, or embarrassingly delusional? I’m not quite sure. But I am sure that the Chicago Cubs’ rotation prospects are looking both bright and crowded these days. With Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, and Matt Garza assured of the front three spots, the Cubs will have to figure out how to accommodate Randy [...]
2011 Cubs Convention Lineup: Includes Matt Garza and Carlos Pena
New Cubs Matt Garza and Carlos Pena, and recently-returned Cub Kerry Wood, will be at this weekend’s Cubs Convention, together with a number of other Cubs stars. And, of course, there are a number of former Cubs players – Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins, Greg Maddux, Todd Walker (wait, what?) – who will be there as [...]
Contracts and Remaining Options Will Factor Into Roster Decisions
By Brett on March 9, 2011
It’s always a difficult issue this time of year: how much should the fact that a guy has a huge, guaranteed contract or the fact that a guy is out of options affect final 25-man roster decisions? On the one hand, I understand that, if a guy is making big bucks, you want to get [...]
Posted in Analysis and Commentary, Chicago Cubs News | Tagged Andrew Cashner, Carlos Silva, Jeff Samardzija | 2 Responses