First Spring Training Lineup Holds Clues for the Season

The Chicago Cubs will play their first Spring Training game tomorrow, and manager Lou Piniella has released the lineup for the game:

1. Ryan Theriot  SS

2. Kosuke Fukudome RF

3. Derrek Lee  1B

4. Aramis Ramirez  3B

5. Marlon Byrd  CF

6. Tyler Colvin LF

7. Mike Fontenot  2B

8. Geovany Soto  C

9. Randy Wells  P

Now, this lineup is, of course, both early and not necessarily indicative of the lineup Piniella has in his head for the regular season, but a few things should jump out at you.

First is, well, first. Ryan Theriot is batting leadoff, and not Kosuke Fukudome. This could be a sign that Piniella would rather have Theriot leadoff, generally, than Fukudome. Next, note that Marlon Byrd is fifth, with Tyler Colvin - who is holding Alfonso Soriano’s spot - batting sixth. This is almost certainly how things will play out at the start of the season, short of an offensive explosion for Soriano in Spring Training.

Then there is Mike Fontenot getting the nod at second base. This might mean nothing more than the fact that Fontenot was the presumptive starter last year, or that the Cubs expect to face a right-handed starter. But still, it’s interesting. It’s also interesting to see Geovany Soto all the way down in the 8 hole. Wouldn’t it be nice if he had a productive season?

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Initial Spring Training Rotation Set

All of the Chicago Cubs’ expected starting pitchers, and those competing to be in the starting rotation, will get a shot in the first week of Cactus League games.

The Cubs have their Cactus League rotation set for the first five games. Randy Wells will get things started Thursday vs. the A’s, with Carlos Zambrano scheduled for Friday vs. the Diamondbacks. Carlos Silva will go Saturday vs. White Sox, and Jeff Samardzija and Tom Gorzelanny will both start Sunday in split squad games. Ryan Dempster goes Monday at Oakland. Sunday is the first of five scheduled split-squad games. Muskat Ramblings.

Mike Parisi and Sean Marshall, who are also gunning for a starting spot, will follow Wells in Thursday’s game. Keep an eye on who keeps starting as the Spring Training schedule wears on - most teams don’t keep their offensive starters in the game much beyond the first half, so getting pitching starts, as opposed to relief appearances, is the best way to test a guy’s starting mettle.

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Randy Wells Will Start Cubs’ Spring Opener

Chicago Cubs starter Randy Wells was about as good as it got for the Cubs last year: 12-10 with a 3.05 ERA, and finished (an unfair) sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. The team is counting on the 27-year-old converted catcher to be a staple of the rotation this year, and will be giving him the ball on the Spring Training equivalent of Opening Day.

Wells recently got glasses because apparently he couldn’t see very well last year. So it’s pretty much assured that seeing better will completely wreck his signature control and ability to locate pitches, or, it will make him the greatest pitcher in the history of ever. Of ever.

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Jeff 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.

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Spring Training Participants

Here’s a helpful recap of the players participating in Spring Training with the Chicago Cubs this year - pitchers and catchers report this week. Thanks to Bruce Miles for putting this together.

Pitchers: Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, Esmailin Caridad, Ryan Dempster, Rafael Dolis, John Gaub, Tom Gorzelanny, John Grabow, Jeff Gray, Angel Guzman, Ted Lilly, Carlos Marmol, Sean Marshall, Marcos Mateo, Mike Parisi, Blake Parker, David Patton, Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Silva, Jeff Stevens, Randy Wells, Carlos Zambrano

Catchers: Welington Castillo, Koyie Hill, Geovany Soto

Infielders: Jeff Baker, Andres Blanco, Mike Fontenot, Micah Hoffpauir, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot

Outfielders: James Adduci, Marlon Byrd, Tyler Colvin, Kosuke Fukudome, Sam Fuld, Xavier Nady, Alfonso Soriano

Nonroster invitees

Pitchers: Andrew Cashner, Casey Coleman, Thomas Diamond, Jeff Kennard, J.R. Mathes, Vince Perkins, James Russell

Catchers: Robinson Chirinos, Steve Clevenger, Chris Robinson

Infielders: Darwin Barney, Starlin Castro, Blake Lalli, Kevin Millar, Chad Tracy, Josh Vitters

Outfielders: Matt Camp, Brett Jackson, Bryan LaHair, Bobby Scales, Brad Snyder

Obvious player to watch: Starlin Castro

Dark-horse candidates to watch: Darwin Barney, Blake Parker

Pitching prospect to watch: Andrew Cashner

Annual Rule 5 pick: Mike Parisi

I’d also suggest watching John Gaub, a lefty with a chance to make the pen, Jeff Stevens, a righty with a chance to make the pen (received from the Indians, together with Gaub and another prospect for Mark DeRosa), and Casey Coleman - the Cubs’ minor league pitcher of the year last year, whom I think could have a very outside shot at landing the fifth spot in the Cubs rotation.

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Boing: Cubs Actively Pursuing Ben Sheets

For weeks I’ve contended that the Chicago Cubs, rather than focusing on the bullpen, should be looking to pick up another starting pitcher. With Ted Lilly laid up following shoulder surgery (notice how his return ETA keeps getting pushed back? It’s now been reported that early May is “optimistic”), and Rich Harden off to Texas, the Cubs rotation to start the year is Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells, and then two question marks.

That said, the kind of pitcher I had in mind was a Jon Garland type - consistently good, if not great, but reliable, veteran, and somewhat inexpensive.

But if the Cubs instead are wanting to take a run at a guy who offers incredibly high upside together with the risk of injury… ah, what the hell. Go for it: the Cubs are actively pursuing pitcher Ben Sheets.

General manager Jim Hendry declined to comment, but he spoke to Sheets’ agent at the winter meetings in Indianapolis and major-league sources say the Cubs are one of Sheet’s preferred destinations.

Sheets reportedly has been asking for a two-year deal averaging around $10 million to $12 million per year, but the Cubs believe they have a good shot at landing him with an incentive-laden deal.

The 31-year-old right-hander, who spent his entire career with the Brewers, has a history of injuries, including arm and back problems, an inner-ear infection and blisters. He missed the 2009 season following elbow surgery. chicagotribune.com.

As the offseason drags on without serious rumors attached to Sheets’ name, things only look better for the Cubs. It is possible that no team is willing to offer a good deal of guaranteed money. If that’s the case, the Cubs have as good a shot as any team at landing Sheets.

Let’s just hope that Sheets agrees to provide his medical records to the Cubs before they make any kind of serious commitment.

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2010 Cubs Convention Attendees Finally Announced

The 2010 Cubs Convention attendees list has finally been released, and it features new Cub Marlon Byrd and new Hall of Famer Andre Dawson (I don’t see him going to any ‘Expos Convention’ - just sayin’). The Ricketts family will be there, as will Lou Piniella and his staff, Jim Hendry and his staff, and also Ron Santo, Pat Hughes, Len Kasper and Bob Brenly. On to the players:

[The list includes] Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins and Ryne Sandberg.

Besides Byrd, the Cubs players currently on the roster scheduled to attend include Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly, Carlos Marmol, Derrek Lee, Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, Jeff Baker, and Geovany Soto. Others expected to attend include John Grabow, Tom Gorzelanny, Justin Berg, Jim Adduci, Esmailin Caridad, Andrew Cashner, Welington Castillo, Tyler Colvin, Sam Fuld, Jeff Gray, Angel Guzman, Koyie Hill, Micah Hoffpauir, Brett Jackson, Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Silva, and Randy Wells.

Former Cubs Glenn Beckert, Jody Davis, Bob Dernier, Randy Hundley, Jay Johnstone, Gary Matthews, Keith Moreland, Andy Pafko, Milt Pappas, Scott Sanderson, Lee Smith, Tim Stoddard, Rick Sutcliffe, and Steve Trout also are scheduled to take part.

[Others that I already said in the lead-in] also will be at the convention, which is sold out. Muskat Ramblings.

I love that last sentence. Here’s all these awesome guys that you totally want to meet, all of your Cubs heroes in one place, it’s gonna be so sweet … but it’s sold out.

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Chicago Cubs Considering Jon Garland

With Ted Lilly rehabbing from surgery, with an empty fifth starter spot, and with Randy Wells coming out of nowhere last year, we’ve been saying for months that the 2010 Chicago Cubs could use another quality, established starting pitcher.

And from the sound of things, they’re actually getting on board with that notion.

Bruce Levine reported this weekend on his radio show that the Cubs have discussed, at least internally, signing free agent starting pitcher Jon Garland. Garland, 30, has not been the subject of many rumors this offseason, despite a solid 2009 campaign, split between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Garland was a former Cubs farmhand, and since becoming a full-time starter in 2002, he’s been above average and has averaged 200 innings pitched. It’s hard to find much better than that on the free agent market, and he would be a perfect fit for this Chicago Cubs team.

Garland is a Type B free agent, so he would not cost the Cubs a draft pick to sign. The Dodgers had a $10 million option on Garland for 2010, which suggests that he’ll receive something lower than that on the free agent market.

h/t CCO.

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