Kaz Meets Exclusively With the Cubs

Kaz Matsui met exclusively with the Cubs on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, at a lunch date 1-on-1 with Jim Hendry. I like Hendry's dedication to getting Matsui. I still think it's a good idea to get Kazuo Matsui, who is coming off a career year.

Kaz rejected a 2 year, $7 million contract from the Rockies. To me this means the Rockies are out of the picture, and a previous report said that the Cubs and Rockies are ahead of the Astros. Well, if the Rockies are out of the picture, than it's down to the Cubs and Astros.

Either way, this is good news to me. Also, the Cubs are still interested in Kosuke Fukudome, who has recieved 2 offers from Japanese teams. He is now said to be turning his attention to U.S. teams, which is also in the sun-times report I have up above for Kaz Matsui's meeting.

That's all for today,

Ryan

Kaz Matsui, Carl Crawford

Good news, the trade with the Tigers for Omar Infante DOES NOT mean that he will be the starter. Dave Kaplan of Chicago's WGN Radio says the Cubs will have a multi-year deal with free agent Kazuo Matsui later this week. Sources have suggested that the Cubs have offered the former Rockies 2nd baseman around 3 years, 14.4 mm.

Carl Crawford also doesn't seem to be out of the picture. Nick Cafardo says that the Cubs are making a push for Crawford in a deal that would give the Rays Rich Hill, Carlos Marmol, and who knows what else? It seems to me this may be slightly off the mark, especially after all the buzz of Marmol as a closer and the somewhat inconsistency of the bullpen even WITH Marmol. Rich Hill makes sense, as there are starting pitchers on the market, such as Matt Clement, Bartolo Colon. Besides, Rich pitched like me towards the end of the year. He had a little more zip on his fastball, though. Cafardo's theory backs Bruce Levine's theory from a few days ago, although Levine's theory was dismissed by Roger Mooney.

Most of this information comes from http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/chicago_cubs/index.html, the Cubs rumors from MLBTradeRumors.com, but I also have used other sources of information available to me. That's my post for the day, I'll be changing the poll soon, so have a nice day.

Until next time,

Ryan

Sweep.. again!

June 27, 2007

Cubs; Off Day; upcoming series vs. Brewers

Today the Cubs completed a sweep of the Rockies, what looked like an impossible feat to me. I credit our pitching, and congratulate Billy Petrick for a 1.2 inning, 2 run debut. That's better than I'd do any day.

Tomorrow I plan to do a scouting report on the Cubs vs. Brewers series. Right now the "Cubs Win Streak Pedometer is up to 6, hopefully we can get it up to, ohi don't know, maybe 8? 9? Right now the 6 game win streak the Cubs have puts them at 38-39. The last time they were this close to .500 was when the played the White Sox in game 42! At that point, they were 20-21. Now they have played 77 games. The bad news, friends, is that the Cubs haven't won in this situation all year. They always loose.

If I had a nickel for every time...

If I had a quarter for every time the Cubs lost last year, I'd have $24. This year it looks like I might only have 2/3 of that. Let's hope for the best, Cub fans.

Thanks,

Ryan

Is any lead safe?

June 27th, 2007

Cubs; WGN 9; 2:20 PM ET; Hirsch, 3-6, 5.06 ERA, vs. Zambrano, 8-6, 4.27 ERA

Yesterday when Marmol came on in the 9th inning with an 8-4 lead, I felt deja vu. Not to mention the fact that after that he gave up a double, an RBI single, and a bunt single to Willy Tavares.

A key difference, though, is that Marmol bounced back. That was something neither Bobby Howry or Chubbs Eyre can say. He struck out Tulowitzki looking, and Matt Holliday lunging. 2 outs. Will Ohman in to face Todd Helton, the tying run, who just happens to be a .330 career hitter who also has that power you need to hit homeruns.

Ohman did his job, though, he popped up Helton on the first pitch. I seem to be calling the shots, so far, saying in a previous post that we'd win if Helton went "1-15, or if Derrek Lee went..." Well Cubs fans, Helton is 1-7, with a run and no RBI.

Our pitching was better yesterday, even though Lilly is on the verge of giving me a heart attack everytime he give up 4 runs in 6 innings, or 5 in 7, but it's mostly 4s and 5s every start. Yesterday it was 4 in 6, before Mike Wuertz came in for 2 easy relief innings. Lilly's ERA now is above 4. My prediction during Spring Training was that his ERA this year would be 4.42. It's looking more and more like I might be right.

Thanks,

Ryan

4 Games

June 26th, 2007

Cubs; WGN 9; 8;05 PM ET; vs. Colorado Rockies; Rodrigo Lopez, 4-0, 2.93 ERA, vs. Ted Lilly, 5-4 ,3.90 ERA

Yesterday's win was not good. Yes, we won the ballgame, and that matters. I applaud Alfonso Soriano, Mike Fontenot, Kazuo Matsui, Koyie Hill, and Jacque Jones for it, but we shouldn't have to win games like that. Who wants to win a game like that? It's exciting, and that's all the credit I can give to that kind of baseball. Scott Eyre has an ERA of 6.92. Bob Howry's ERA is up to 4.30 again.

Bullpen struggles are going to be the downfall of this club. No one is on top of their games right now. Everytime Mike Wuertz comes in, I'm a little worried- and he's the reliever I'm most comfortable with! Our best reliever, though- statswise- is Carlos Marmol, but I'm shaking every time he pitches. Do we Cub fans remember the '06 season? His ERA was over 6!

Well, all I can say is, hey, we won game 1. Now we need to have a stronger bullpen, maybe reel in some help or call back up Cotts, or even Super Bob Novoa. Well, cya at tonight's game.

Thanks,

Ryan

Cubs vs. Rockies: Series Preview

June 25th, 2007

Cubs; CSN Chicago; 8:05 PM ET;
Jason Marquis, 5-4, 3.38 ERA, vs. Jeff Francis, 7-5, 3.44 ERA

Today there are no new trade rumours, no injuries, nothing new and stirring for the Cubs. That is why I am doing a full preview of the Cubs series with the Colorado Rockies. It should be a good series. Game 1 it's Marquis vs. Francis. Game 2 it's hot Rodrigo Lopez vs. cold, cold Ted Lilly, and game 3 is Jason Hirsch vs. the man with a plan, Big Z, Carlos Zambrano.

Pitchers Preview:

Game 1: June is for sure Jeff Francis' month. In 4 starts this month, he has given up 5 total runs, and gone 26 innings. That is around 6.5 innings per appearance, which isn't possible, but that's the math. Also, that's not to mention that his 2 most previous starts were against the Yankees and Red Sox, where he went 12 innings total yielding 1 run. Ouch. And that said, Marquis hasn't won since May 9th, which is 8 starts and 47 days. His ERA in that time is 7.36, compared to a previous 1.70. His ERA in June is 5.19. Advantage Rockies.

Game 2: Lopez in june is 2-0 with a 3.52 ERA. That is slightly worse than his rest of the year 2-0, 2.93 ERA. Also, he has never faced the Cubs in his career yet. Lilly gave up 5 earned in 7 innings striking out 10 in his last outing against the Rangers, a 6-5 loss, where he had a no decision. His ERA has gotten considerably worse since the beginning of the season, where his ERA was closer to 2.75. In his only other appearance vs. the Rockies, he lost, yielding 6 runs, 5 earned, in 1.2 innings pitched. Advantage Rockies.

Game 3: Jason Hirsch, 3-6, 5.06 ERA vs. Carlos Zambrano, 8-6, 4.27 ERA. Hirsch has never faced the Cubs into his sophomore year. Last year he was an Astro, going to Colorado for Jason Jennings. He was one of the Astros top prospects. This year, with, so far, a full season under his belt, he's been far to streaky for the likes of the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies, who just swept the Yankees, would've been so lucky if Hirsch pitched. Zambrano is hot. Zambrano is very hot. In his 7 starts with Barrett calling, he had a 5+ ERA. In 9 starts otherwise, his ERA is 1.24. Good Stuff. He also is 4-2 in those 9 starts with other catchers, and now that Barrett is gone we may jut see that 1.24 ERA more often. Advantage Cubs.

Pitching-wise, it looks to me as if the Rockies have the advantage. If pitching was all that counted and numbers meant everything, I'd say the Rockies win this series 2-1. To prove myself wrong, however, I'm going to compare the hitters by position.

Kings of Swing:

Matt Holliday vs. Alfonso Soriano: Holliday is young, he has a consistent .300+ average, and he is a legitimate homerun threat. This year? .355 average, 13 shots. Soriano is over 30, his average is consistent, however, under .300 career, and he is more of a power threat than Holliday. This year? above .300 average, 15 homers, and 3 homers in 3 days. Advantage Rockies.

Willy Tavares vs. Felix Pie: Tavares, also in the trade for Jennings, is having a career year for himself, .311 average, even though his career average is .289. Not a power threat, 6 career homeruns. Pie is young, his average is getting better by the minute, his arm in CF is completely indispensible, and he also is not a major power threat. Advantage Cubs.

Brad Hawpe vs. Cliff Floyd: Hawpe is hitting .291 who has 51 RBI so far, and who's career best HR total is 22. Floyd is a former 30+ HR hitter, who is aging, injury prone, and having a fantastic year for the Cubs. Advantage Cubs.

Garrett Atkins vs. Aramis Ramirez: Atkins has a .243 average, not a power threat, 51 HRs career, 8 this year, and is known best defensively. Aramis' average just dipped to the .290s, but he is hitting many homeruns, good power hitter, can flash the leather when the heat is on and it boils down to defense. Advantage Cubs.

Troy Tulowitzki vs. Ryan Theriot/Cesar Izturis: Troy this year is .274 hitter as a starter, and .265 hitter career. Theriot's average is about the same ths year, neither of them power hitters, and Izturis' average is rising, he is a streaky hitter, no power, and that is the SS dillema. Advantage Rockies.

Kazuo Matsui vs. Mark DeRosa: Matsui is having a breakout year after being horrific as a Met. I think it may just be luck, but he is so hot right now. DeRosa is hitting in the .250-.260 range all year so far after hitting .296 last year. Currently; Advantage Rockies.

Todd Helton vs. Derrek Lee: Both are fascinating to watch, it's amazing to see the crank homeruns like they do, but the average is the difference. Lee is a career .278 hitter, Helton a .300+ hitter. Advantage Rockies.

Yorvit Torrealba vs. Rob Bowen: This year .234 average, career .247. Phenominal defense. Rob Bowen is hitting .253 this year. Unfortunately, .225 career. Ahh! @$#%! Advantage Rockies.

Well, unfortunately, unless Marquis and Lilly step it up, and Big Z stays hot, it looks like a series win or even sweep for the Colorado Rockies. That's just the numbers, though. Maybe Helton will go 1-15 on the series. Maybe Derrek Lee will go 7-18 with 3 homers. I sure hope so. Go Cubs!!

Thanks,

Ryan