Chicago Cubs Reliever Rumors
In the wake of Angel Guzman’s shoulder issues, the Chicago Cubs are being attached to a number of reliever rumors. Some are nothing new - the Cubs are still interested in Luke Gregerson from the San Diego Padres or Jason Frasor from the Blue Jays - but some are brand new.
The Cubs, who currently are scouting the Cactus and Graperfruit Leagues for a setup man, would be interested in both [Pedro] Martinez and [John] Smoltz “down the line,” according to a major-league source. FOX Sports on MSN.
It’s hard to know what “down the line” means, unless Smoltz and Martinez are currently seeking more money than they should be. Neither would be a terribly exciting addition, but they would add some veteran influence in the pen. Smoltz, who will turn 43 this year, has been exclusively a starter since 2004. He was brutal last year in Boston, but was adequate after moving on to St. Louis.
Martinez, 38, has exclusively been a starter in his career, but many believe if he’s got a future, it’s in the bullpen. He pitched just 9 games last year for the Phillies, but made the most of it.
As for the two trade targets, we’ve discussed Gregerson and Frasor at length before. The former is younger, on the upswing and under control for a couple years; the latter is in his mid-30s, had a career year last year, and is a free agent after this year. Take a wild guess at which one the Cubs will end up with. Either way, with Guzman out, you can bet that the asking price just went up.
ShareMarlon Byrd Says He’s a Great Center Fielder
But when Byrd showed up to Chicago Cubs camp looking like the 2010 version of Glenallen Hill - that is to say, the dude was stocky and ripped - it was hard to picture him covering tons of ground out there. Byrd’s says that’s bullocks, though, and he’s ready to show the Cubs what they’ve been missing defensively.
More important, he’s moving from the American League West, which is full of large outfields, to the National League Central, which generally has smaller outfields, including Wrigley.
”Which means I get to play shallow,” he said, ”which is my forte.”
Which means over-the-shoulder and over-the-head catches.
”I do both,” Byrd said. ”If I have a wrong read on balls coming [over a shoulder], I just let it land over my head [into the glove].”
It’s not that fans are going to see a version of Willie Mays or Joe DiMaggio — although Byrd does wear Mays’ No. 24.
”Those guys are greats. They could go anywhere with ease, very fluid,” Byrd said. ”I know how to go back on a ball correctly, so it’s just a difference.”
It’s something Byrd started by watching Andruw Jones with the Atlanta Braves when Byrd was coming up with the Philadelphia Phillies.
”Wherever he played, I would try to play,” he said. ”And about every pitch, I’d get nervous and take a couple of steps back because he was so shallow. But over time, and being with [Rangers coach and former Gold Glove center fielder] Gary Pettis for a couple of years, I got better. I started trusting what I did in the outfield.”
The chance to play with Jones last season helped, too — even if the big acreage at Rangers Ballpark and a young pitching staff didn’t.
”I couldn’t play shallow until our pitchers got in a groove,” Byrd said. ”I couldn’t start creeping in until about the third inning.”
Now he’ll have a more veteran pitching staff with the Cubs and an outfield he can work with.
”One thing you’re going to see about Marlon is how good a center fielder he is,” Jaramillo said. CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Nothing inspires confidence quite like a guy saying he affirmatively wants to try and make over-the-shoulder catches.
ShareNo Chan Ho Park for the Cubs, Signs with Yankees
Well, if the Chicago Cubs were looking to use their Ryan Theriot winnings on a reliever, it won’t be Chan Ho Park.
The Yankees have signed former Phillies reliever Chan Ho Park to a 1-year $1.2million deal, with incentives to make another $300K.
Park had considered an offer from the Cubs, where he would have started but felt he had a better chance of winning a World Series title with the defending champs. hotstove.com.
Well, duh, he’s got a better chance with the Yankees. Can’t blame him for that part. Can blame him for turning down $3 million from the Phillies earlier in the offseason.
ShareHere’s Something Scary: Carlos Silva Was Really Trying in Seattle
Whenever the Chicago Cubs bring a reclamation project on board, there are certain things that can inspire optimism. The guy was playing through pain or with a lingering injury the last couple of years. The guy was having family issues that distracted him. The guy had signed a huge contract and became complacent.
Any of these things would allow Cubs fans to have just the tiniest shade of optimism about new arrival, Carlos Silva. Silva, acquired in a crap-in, crap-out swap with the Mariners for Milton Bradley, was absolutely horrible in his two seasons in Seattle. Sure, he was hurt last year, but he was awful in 2008, long before the injury. But, he had signed a huge contract before 2008, so maybe, for those first two years, he had let himself go a little bit. Maybe he let himself get comfortable - and we can cling to the hope that he will rededicate himself now. Yes. Yes. I’m starting to feel the optimism.
The only thing that could bring me down would be to learn that Silva was really committed to being the best he could be when he arrived in Seattle.
Silva now is battling not only for a spot in the Cubs rotation but also to redeem himself.
“To be honest, for me, my last two years have been very disappointing, and not for Seattle, but for myself,” Silva said Friday. “It was disappointing because I worked very hard for my numbers and to have a good season.
“But here [with the Cubs], I’m coming with a clear mind. This is my first year in the big leagues, know what I mean? I don’t care how long I’ve been in the big leagues.”
Actually, his first season was 2002. Silva made his Major League debut on April 1 that year for Philadelphia. But he’s decided to make a fresh start. Forget the two seasons with the Phillies or the four with the Twins, although his success in Minnesota helped him get a four-year, $48 million contract with the Mariners in December 2007.
Now, Silva joins Jeff Samardzija, Tom Gorzelanny and Sean Marshall as candidates for a spot in the Cubs rotation.
“We’ll just let ‘em pitch,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. “We have a lot of split-squad games early, so we’ll need some innings. There’s some jobs to be won here right now, not only in the rotation but in our bullpen.”
That’s fine with Silva.
“I like to have competition, I like to be fighting for my job, I like to own my spot,” Silva said. “When I signed the contract with Seattle, my mind changed so much. I wanted to maybe impress everybody. I wanted to show people why they paid me so much money — I don’t know why, but I think that’s how I felt. cubs.com.
Son of a crap. If that’s what Silva pitches like when he’s really trying, when he’s committed to being all he can be, what’s he going to look like for the Cubs? Throw in the fact that he’s reportedly out of shape, and it’s probably absurd for us to hope for anything more than Silva taking up space in the bullpen.
Then again, maybe he was saying that, after signing that big contract, he put too much pressure on himself to perform. Maybe he got out of his usual routine, and tried too hard. Maybe now that the expectations could not possibly be any lower, Silva will be able to get back to what made him a (moderately) successful pitcher in the first place - throwing strikes, using his defense, keeping the ball down. Maybe he really can pull it together enough to be a 4.30ish ERA, fifth starting innings eater for the Cubs. Maybe.
Aw crap. Look at me getting optimistic again.
ShareChan Ho Park is Still a Possibility for the Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are, for the most part, done making moves this offseason, but General Manager Jim Hendry has acknowledged that the team wouldn’t mind doing some tweaking, particularly in the bullpen. Specifically, the Cubs have been looking at veteran, righty relievers, and one named they’ve been tied to is Chan Ho Park.
Well, he could still be a possibility for the Cubs, according to Jon Heyman. Park turned down a one year, $3 million deal from the Phillies earlier this offseason, and you have to wonder if he regrets that now it appears he’ll have to settle for something less than that.
The Cubs likely view Park as an upgrade at the back-end of the pen, but also as a guy who can swing a start or two if necessary. Of course, Park was terrible as a starter last year, but was brilliant in the pen for the Phillies.
ShareJeff Samardzija Really Wants to Start for the Cubs
Jeff Samardzija came to the Chicago Cubs on a major league contract when he was drafted a few years ago. That means that he came with big expectations.
And although he’s performed well in his way up the minor league chain, and was great in a brief stop with the Cubs in relief at the end of 2008, he was very disappointing last year in his first chance to really claim a full-time gig at the big league level. In his mind, that was at least partly because he never felt certain about where he was going to be - in the majors or the minors, in the rotation or in the pen. Hopefully this year, wherever he ends up, is where he ends up.
The right-hander had three stints with the big league team, April 23-May 6, June 30-Aug. 13 and Sept. 8 through the end of the season. He was looking for a chance to settle in one place. Shuttling back and forth didn’t help last season.
“That’s probably No. 1 on the list,” he said. “Just knowing in my head I wasn’t going anywhere and I had a solid month or however many starts to make the adjustments I wanted to make and go from there.”…
In 2008, Samardzija was used strictly in relief with the Cubs and posted a 2.28 ERA in 26 games. Last season, he made his first Major League start Aug. 12 against the Phillies — one of two starts in 2009 — and served up seven runs on eight hits over 3 1/3 innings. Not exactly an outing worth celebrating, but Samardzija said now it was all positive.
“I’m pretty good at ‘in the moment’ and being kind of stubborn with myself and being set in my ways and what I want to work on,” Samardzija said. “I took a lot out of last year. Was it tough and how I wrote it up? It wasn’t how I wrote it up, and it was tough. But I learned a lot and learned how it works growing up in this league and just playing baseball in general.
“I’m happy with where I’m at now with where I’m pitching and how the ball’s coming out. I really haven’t put the ball down this offseason, which feels great. It’s the first time I’ve done that. I’m ready to go.”
He’s still young baseball-wise and knows it. Samardzija made a name for himself on the football field, catching passes as a stellar wide receiver at Notre Dame. The Cubs selected him in the fifth round of the 2006 Draft, and he has committed full-time to baseball.
Now, it’s a matter of finding the right role. He succeeded as a reliever in ‘08 but wants to start.
“The future — you never know,” Samardzija said. “I want to give starting a fair enough shot. I feel with my body and with my arm I can be a successful starting pitcher who goes deep into games every fifth day. I feel that can happen.
“Being a young guy, there’s still stuff I need to work on, and coming from a football background, maybe there’s even more to work on. I want to give [starting] its fair shot. I’ve done it my whole life.
“I wouldn’t qualify last year as giving it a full shot to be a starter. I thought at the end of the season it went pretty well, but it was only two starts, and you can’t take too much from that. I want to do it. That’s how I’m looking at it.”
There is an opening in the Cubs rotation. Ted Lilly could miss the first month, maybe less, after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder in early November. There are three starters set in Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Randy Wells, and lots of candidates for the vacancies, including newly acquired Carlos Silva.
Samardzija, Gorzelanny and Sean Marshall are all friends. But they’re all competing for the same thing.
“As a young guy, that’s how you look at it first is that they’re buddies,” Samardzija said. “Obviously, they’re good friends and they’re on your team and you want to win with them. The older you get, the more you understand what this game is about. In the end it’ll make you stronger.” cubs.com.
Given that Samardzija, more so than Gorzelanny, Silva and even Marshall, is thought of by the Cubs in their long-term plans, you have to believe he’ll be given every opportunity to claim that fifth starter spot. Many believe, however, that his future is in the bullpen. He’s always looked like a guy who can be dominant in bursts where he can let it all hang out, but struggled a bit when he had to hold something back in order to pitch 6, 7 innings.
ShareCubs Reportedly Prefer Chan Ho Park to Kiko Calero
Late last week, the Chicago Cubs reportedly entered negotiations with reliever Kiko Calero to fill the “need” for another right-handed, late-inning reliever. For whatever reason, those talks have cooled - with some speculating that Calero is holding out for a two-year deal, and the Cubs wisely sticking to a one-year offer, given Calero’s shoulder issues.
In the meantime, the Cubs have apparently started looking elsewhere, and their gaze has landed firmly on Chan Ho Park, according to Jon Heyman. Together with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Cubs are looking at Park for a bullpen spot following his successful - if not great - stint in Philadelphia last year. Park, who will be 37 next year, has had a roller coaster career - in his younger days, he was a successful starter before falling off the map. He reclaimed his career in 2008, putting together a great season for the Dodgers.
Park has started and pitched out of the pen the past two years, so the Cubs could be viewing him as another possibility to compete for a spot at the back end of the rotation. If the Cubs land him, hopefully it’s just for the pen: Park was dominant as a reliever last year for the Phillies, but as a starter, he couldn’t keep his ERA under 7.
At the outset of the offseason, Park turned down a $3 million offer from the Phillies, so one has to wonder what he’s expecting to get now. Presumably he would prefer more than one year, and probably more than $3 million per, but he’s highly unlikely to get both of those desires satisfied. At a minimum, let’s hope he doesn’t get them satisfied from the Cubs. Assuming he’s re-thought his previously rejection, a one year $3 million deal would be just fine.
ShareWhew: Jose Contreras Ain’t a Cub
Some folks around the Cublogoverse are pretty excited that Jose Contreras has not landed on the Chicago Cubs. I was fairly ambivalent about the prospect of landing Contreras, thinking that he would get a minor league deal and an invite to Spring Training. Apparently he actually got a big league deal.
Jose Contreras has signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, a source confirmed for ESPNDeportes.com’s Enrique Rojas.
The Chicago Cubs expressed interest in Contreras and the pitcher was expected to sign with either the Cubs or the St. Louis Cardinals before striking a deal with Philadelphia. ESPN.
Contreras was dominant out of the pen in limited duty for the Rockies last year, so it’s possible this will work out for the Phillies. For the Cubs part, I’d hazard a guess that the failure to offer a guaranteed, big league deal is the reason Contreras is a Phillie today and not a Cub. And that’s just fine.
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