Get ready to be overloaded with “addition by subtraction” type optimism pieces as we gear up for the 2010 Chicago Cubs season. The Cubs, apparently, are going to win eight to ten more games in 2010 simply by virtue of not having Milton Bradley on the team anymore. I question the statistical legitimacy of such […]
The market for starting pitcher Joel Pineiro has been both slow to develop and seemingly thin. It’s hard to figure, given that his tremendous 2009 season was not necessarily an outlier – though you do have to go back a few years to find his previous great success. Now, according to Ed Price the New York […]
Two weeks ago, it looked like the St. Louis Cardinals were going to lose Mark DeRosa, Joel Pineiro, John Smoltz, and Matt Holliday this offseason. Things were looking up for the rest of the National League Central. And then yesterday, the Cardinals re-signed Matt Holliday to a seven year, $120 million deal. Humbug. Setting aside […]
Is he or isn’t he? That’s what the Cublogoverse is trying to figure out today about Chicago Cubs’ ace (yes, he is an ace) Carlos Zambrano’s availability. A few days ago, SI’s Jon Heyman started a firestorm when he tweeted that Zambrano was “eminently available.” We questioned his use of the word “eminently” there, and […]
With Mark DeRosa leaving and Joel Pineiro set to leave, the St. Louis Cardinals were poised to be significantly worse (on paper) in 2010 than they were at the close of the 2009 season. Oh, yeah, but there was that Matt Holliday guy. The Cardinals have had a growing sense of optimism in recent weeks […]
When the New York Mets signed Jason Bay on Tuesday, they conceivably shrunk the outfield market for the Chicago Cubs (by making Jacoby Ellsbury slightly less likely to be traded). But they may have simultaneously increased the market – namely, by overloading their own outfield. Jason Bay is expected to play left field, Carlos Beltran […]
Mini-update, as it relates to the Chicago Cubs: With Bay going to the New York Mets, that’s one fewer outfielder who could take a spot in the Boston Red Sox outfield, thus forcing the Sox to trade Jacoby Ellsbury to the Cubs. It also means that Matt Holliday is incrementally more likely to accept the […]
It may shock you, but trading Milton Bradley for “pitcher” Carlos Silva was not the Chicago Cubs’ idea of the perfect trade. The Cubs actually almost participated in a four-team blockbuster (well, inasmuch as a whole bunch of salary dumps can constitute a “blockbuster”), which would have seen them land Pat Burrell and Luis Castillo. […]
The Chicago Cubs were among approximately one thousand teams on hand to scout Cuban hurler Aroldis Chapman yesterday. Chapman, 21, recently defected from the socialist paradise down south, and is seeking big-time bucks for his trouble. In the morning at the Baseball USA complex, the left-hander tossed two separate five-minute side sessions, throwing mostly in […]
Apparently, when Jim Hendry traded Aaron Heilman earlier this offseason to the Diamondbacks, it wasn’t purely a salary dump or a dealing from a position of surplus. Silly us, we all saw a team with more than 10 legitimate bullpen options (and that was before Jeff Gray was acquired), and figured, “the Cubs are dealing […]
Although sending Milton Bradley to Tampa for Pat Burrell remains the far most likely scenario, the Chicago Cubs are working to increase the possible destinations for Bradley. Meanwhile, the Cubs met with about a half-dozen teams during the first day of the winter meetings at the Indianapolis Marriott and had plans for at least two […]
Joel Sherman of the New York Post has tweeted that, if the Cubs are able to swing a Milton Bradley / Pat Burrell swap, the Mets are interested in a Burrell / Luis Castillo swap. This is, of course, an iteration of the three-way deal that has been discussed at length for weeks, but this […]
There’s been so much smoke surrounding the Chicago Cubs’ efforts to swing a deal with Tampa Bay involving Milton Bradley and Pat Burrell that we’re all choking on it. Still no fire, but that could be coming as soon as next week, at the Winter Meetings. If Pat Burrell is already a foregone conclusion, perhaps […]
As if signing reliever John Grabow to a two year $7 million contract was not enough indignity for a team approaching its budget limitations and with needs in the infield, the outfield, and at the back-end of the rotation, the Chicago Cubs are now interested in signing another big money reliever. Un-freaking-believable: According to Sponichi, […]
Many pundits would have been surprised weeks ago if you’d told them then that Milton Bradley would still be a Cub now. But so it is. And unfortunately, so much of what the Cubs hope to accomplish this offseason is tied to what happens with Bradley – if they can’t cut some of his salary, […]
Even though the Chicago Cubs probably should be in the market for some starting pitching depth, they are not. The relative virtue of such a decision, I will leave to you, good reader. I will say only: Zambrano, Dempster, Wells, ?, ? That said, even if the Cubs were looking for a pitcher, that guy […]
For those Chicago Cubs fans holding out hope that the team would take interest in signing free agent Mark DeRosa – you’re going to have to get used to disappointment. Of the Dodgers’ interest in DeRosa, Grunewald said, “The interest is mutual.” But the agent said that the Dodgers are one of a dozen teams that have […]
There was an explosion of Milton Bradley trade rumors in the last 24 hours – and there were already a bundle. So we’re just going to have to do this one bullet-style, even though I hate doing that: Phil Rogers says the Cubs are making an extra hard push to trade Bradley within the next […]
A new day and a new Milton Bradley trade rumor. Today’s version has the Chicago Cubs dealing Milton Bradley to the Blue Jays, who would send Lyle Overbay to the New York Mets, who would send second baseman Luis Castillo to the Cubs. The teams would have to work out the money part of the […]
The Chicago Cubs sported a very healthy $140 million(ish) payroll in 2009 – good enough to top the Senior Circuit (with the New York Mets having about the same payroll). And it was worth every penny, right? Fans no doubt expect that payroll will increase next year, and it is expected to do so, incrementally […]
It was reported last week that the number of suitors for Milton Bradley this Winter would be “shocking.” That was quite a relief, because up to that point, all we’d really heard about were the teams that were not interested in Bradley. And the worst part was the fact that all those teams were the […]
Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman is primed to be this year’s big time international signing for some team. The 21 year old lefty has a lot of teams excited and interested in ponying up serious cash. Given the Chicago Cubs’ uncertain financial situation, frankly, I had not followed the youngster too closely, expecting that the Cubs […]
Outfielder Matt Holiday, who provided the spark that shot the St. Louis Cardinals to the top of the NL Central and the postseason, is going to be a very expensive free agent this year. Some sources suggest he’ll seek as much as six or seven years, and more than $120 million. Good luck with that, […]
The Arizona Fall League – a post-regular-season league for minor leaguers, noteworthy for typically hosting several top prospects – kicks off today in, um, well, Arizona. This year, the Cubs will send several of their brightest, including the clear cut top three prospects in the system. Those three: Shortstop Starlin Castro rocketed up the prospect […]
The 2010 Major League Baseball draft order is out, pending changes due to free agency signings, and the Chicago Cubs come in at 16th. That the Cubs are 16th and not 17th is actually quite huge: now, if and when the Cubs sign a Type A free agent who has been offered arbitration by his […]
Sure, the offseason isn’t here yet, but it’s never too early for crazy Chicago Cubs rumors. And that is part of our credo here at Bleacher Nation: we will bring you every Cubs rumor we hear, no matter how … out there. This one is probably best filed in the “out there” category. But still, […]
